From the Mouths of Babes
by Haitus80
Summary: (AU no ZA) Being a single mother to a four year old is easier for Carol than it would be for most. That is, until her ever helpful daughter inadvertently plays match maker and Carol finds herself falling for the gruff guy next door. (Story prompt. Total fluff.)
1. Chapter 1

**I got a prompt for this story about a month ago and I'm just now getting around to finishing it up. There's no drama, no angst, nothing of the sort. It's just fluff and stuff. lol Mayhem95, I hope you enjoy it because I've had fun writing it. Thanks for thinking of me when the idea struck you! To the rest of you, thanks for giving it a shot!**

 **Chapter One**

Carol smiled to herself as she kept one eye on the window above the sink. Today was one of those days that she would never take for granted. The sun was shining and the sky was such a deep azure blue that it was difficult not to stare up at the cloudless expanse of sky and just feel good. The breeze was cool and constant and fluttered the curtains, stirring the small potted plant on the window sill.

She sighed contentedly and poured the two glasses of lemonade. Sophia was still standing in the middle of the back yard but she was no longer paying attention to the assortment of toys that Carol had spread out around her on the faded old quilt. The girl had a frown on her face, her little brow pulled down low and she was chewing her lip almost thoughtfully. She was only four but sometimes she didn't act like most little girls her age. She wasn't a selfish child, she was quiet and sensitive and could easily pick up on moods. She was polite and caring and at the moment she looked so contemplative that Carol almost laughed to herself, wondering what could have caught the child's attention. Sophia was definitely different from any other four year old that Carol had ever been around.

Or maybe Carol just thought that because it was her daughter and maybe every mother assumed their child was exceptional. She stepped out onto the back porch and sat the glasses down on the banister, hands on her hips.

"Sophia!" she called to the girl, who was still studying the neighbor's yard with that troubled look on her face.

Sophia looked up and then her brow smoothed out. She climbed the steps and took the glass Carol handed her. She looked from the glass back out to the yard, where her attention had been focused before. Carol didn't see anything but part of her vision was obscured by the shed that belonged to the neighbor next door.

"Thanks, mama," she said and then hurried down the steps without having taken the first sip. She walked determinedly to the fence separating the two yards and then stopped, looking unsure.

Carol followed her and finally realized what had caught her daughter's attention. The house next door was in serious need of repair. The house itself needed a coat of paint, the back lawn was choked with weeds and the patio was cracked, along with the sidewalk. She had never met the men that lived in the house, had barely even seen them, but knew that they were likely more trouble than they were worth. Just a few nights before Carol watched from her bedroom window as one of them was hauled off by the police in handcuffs.

But at the moment, the man that hadn't landed his butt in jail was now working on the jungle that was the back lawn. He was wearing a threadbare sleeveless shirt, dark cargo pants with a hole in the knee and work boots. His hair was dark and shaggy, damp with sweat and he would stop every now and then to wipe his brow. He didn't have as many shade trees in his own yard and he was vigorously working on breaking apart the concrete that made up the shabby walkway.

Carol watched as he raised the sledge hammer high and then slammed it down, arms flexing, muscles bulging as they glistened in the bright sunlight. She tore her gaze away from the man, not wanting him to catch her staring. As a matter of fact, it wasn't very smart to look at him anymore. Her divorce had been finalized two years ago and after the hell that had been her marriage, Carol had barely glanced twice at any man. For some reason, she wanted to do a lot more glancing at this one. It was disconcerting.

"He's all sweaty, mom," Sophia noted, her brows knitted into a frown again as she clutched her glass in both hands.

"Well, it's a sunny day. He's probably really hot out here," Carol said, watching the girl closely. Sophia was only four and they had left Ed when she had been two so she doubted the child remembered much, but she still seemed leery of men. Her obvious concern for this stranger was a little interesting.

"Hey, mister!" Sophia yelled suddenly, startling Carol.

Carol watched the man lower the hammer, his head snapping around to look at them. When his eyes settled on Sophia he offered her a small wave.

"Hey, yourself, kid," he said, picking up the hammer and then swinging it again. He stooped, picking up the busted chunks of concrete and tossing them into a pile.

Sophia sighed heavily, causing Carol to smile. She should have told her to leave the man alone and let him work but the girl's obvious worry over him had her refraining, wanting to know if Sophia would open up anymore.

That had been a mistake.

Carol was in the middle of taking a drink when Sophia called over to the man again.

"My mom thinks you're really hot!"

The man's head turned sharply, his eyes growing wide as his brows went up. Carol choked on her lemonade, spitting half of it down the front of her dress. The man was now watching Carol, his face seeming to grow even more red as he studied her. Finally he shook his head and went back to work.

"Sophia," Carol hissed, knowing her daughter didn't understand why she shouldn't have said that, but wishing she hadn't anyway. "He's busy. We should let him work on his yard."

Sophia looked up at her, eyes wide and worried. "But there isn't even anything to drink over there and he'll de..." she scrunched up her nose, thinking of the right word, "dehybernate."

Carol forced the smile from her lips. "Dehydrate. And he's a grown up. If he wants a drink he'll go inside and get one. He's fine, honey, really."

Sophia shook her head and turned back to the fence. "Hey!"

"Sophia!"

The man looked over again, clearly agitated.

Sophia held up the glass with both hands. "I brought you this. I didn't get any floaters in it. I didn't even take a drink."

Carol groaned but the man's severe look seemed to soften, if only a little, and the corner of his mouth came up a bit. It wasn't much but at least it was better than the other look, the clearly annoyed look.

"I don't want you to de- umm," she looked up at Carol for help and she couldn't turn the girl down.

She looked at the man and tried to smile but she wasn't sure if she was successful. "She's worried that you're going to dehydrate out here in the sun," she explained.

He looked down at the sledge hammer he was still clutching and then back up at Sophia. Finally, he tossed the heavy object down and made his way to the fence. She watched as Sophia smiled bashfully and the man reached over for the glass. He made a great show of narrowing his eyes and double checking the contents.

"No floaters?" he finally asked, watching the girl.

Sophia made a face and shook her head seriously. "Not one."

He nodded and then took a drink. Carol watched him lower the glass, lick his lips and then he turned it up. She watched his throat work as he drank, watched as a bead of sweat traveled from his temple down to his jaw, watched as his dirty fingers gripped the wet glass. She realized with a start that she was ogling him. That if her child wasn't out here she would have been thinking all sorts of lurid perverted thoughts. She looked away quickly when he was finished and handed the glass back to the girl.

"What's your name?" Sophia asked.

Before Carol could tell her that she needed to get back to her toys and let the man work, he answered her.

"Daryl," he said, watching Sophia closely.

Sophia giggled. "That rhymes with Carol."

Daryl nodded. "Yeah."

"That's my mom's name. You two should be married. She doesn't have a boyfriend or anything, and if she found one it wouldn't be near as funny as it would be if you were her boyfriend. Since your names rhyme and all."

His eyes went wide again and he glanced at Carol, his face flaming as hot as hers probably was.

"Okay, Sophia, lets go play so he can get back to work, okay," she said, quickly grabbing the glass and then Sophia's hand. "Daryl has a lot to do." She offered him an apologetic look but caught him giving her a once over before his eyes met hers. He turned then, looking embarrassed at being caught.

Sophia seemed pacified that the man wasn't going to dehydrate and quickly immersed herself in her toys once more. Carol on the other hand, was bothered, but not exactly in a bad way. As she sat on the quilt and engaged her daughter in games, she couldn't stop her eyes from straying to the man in the next yard. Several times, she caught him looking at her and then they would both look away quickly.

~H~

Daryl tore off a huge bite of pizza and chewed it dispassionately. Merle had been in jail just a few days and the house already looked ten times better than it had before the man had gotten himself locked up. He was facing a few years this time and Daryl wasn't about to stay in the house in the condition that it was currently in. Letting it fall to shit around him when Merle was around was one thing, because Merle wouldn't have lifted a finger to help him fix it, but now that Merle was gone for a while, it was a good time to start.

That and without Merle around, he was simply lonely. It was a relief not to have to listen to Merle's constant bullshit but being alone when you flat out weren't used to being alone was kind of depressing. Hell, the only social interaction he'd had in days was the girl next door hollering at him from over the fence.

He snorted, remembering the look on her mom's face when she'd started talking about their names. It wasn't a bad thing, though, learning that she was at least single.

He scowled to himself, until that moment he'd been unaware that his loneliness stretched that far. It wasn't just a lack of another person around to talk to. He was now acutely aware of the fact that he really wouldn't mind the company of a woman. And not the type Merle liked, either. He didn't think he could ever be that hard up for human contact.

Unfortunately, he wasn't any good at talking to women. Or anyone else for that matter. He thought about the kid from next door and smiled grimly. He remembered being that age, or close to it, anyway, and he sure as hell wouldn't have talked to a grown up like she had. She had been worried about his well being, back then when he'd been a kid, he'd been worried about his well being too. Sometimes he felt that way, worrying about himself a little. Sometimes it seemed like there was going to be some unbearable pain around the next corner, like maybe, for reasons he couldn't fathom, he wouldn't ever attain anything... good.

That was the reason it was hard for him to put himself out there. It was hard for him to make friends, hard for him to talk to women, hard for him to simply function. He was always too damn geared up to fly off the handle.

"Goddamn, Dixon," he grumbled to himself. "Get a fuckin' grip."

He got up, tossing the crust into the trash on his way out the back door. It was almost dark but he was starting to feel claustrophobic just sitting inside. The sky was still clear, the temperature was still damn near perfect, so he would spend some more time outside, just sitting on his ass on the back porch.

He did just that, taking a seat on the top step and staring dejectedly into the yard. At least he had a project to get to work on tomorrow while things were running smooth at the garage. He leaned back on his elbows but movement out of the corner of his eye had him sitting back up. He looked over just as the woman next door bent at the waist, picking up some of the toys left outside.

The skirt rode up in the back, exposing an ample amount of skin. Today hadn't been the first time he had seen the woman, but it had been the first time that he had gotten close enough to really get a good look at her. And damn, he'd liked what he saw. Of course, nothing had came to mind. He hadn't talked to her like any other man would have done.

He was a goddamn mess.

He was still staring at her ass when she stood up, turning abruptly. He was sure she hadn't realized that he'd been looking at her. It was darker now and she was too far away. She walked to the fence that separated their yards and leaned her forearms on the metal. It was clear that she had something to say so he got up, hoping she wasn't going to ask him why the fuck he'd just been picturing her naked, and walked towards her. He stopped just a few feet away, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"I just wanted to apologize for Sophia. She doesn't usually talk to strangers and I have no idea what got into her," she smiled uncertainly.

He shrugged. "I didn't mind."

They stood there for a few long awkward moments and then she glanced past him. "So, you plan on doing some landscaping?"

He shook his head. "Just tryin' to get it back to normal. This place belonged to my granddad and it didn't used to look this damn shitty."

She smiled. "Well, I better get inside. If you ever get thirsty, just give my over exuberant child a yell and she'll fix you right up."

He nodded and watched her back away from the fence. "Maybe I'll do that."

She grinned and then turned, walking back to her own porch. He followed the sway of her hips until she was climbing her steps.

He went back to his abandoned step and sat down again. Maybe tomorrow he'd actually be able to figure out a way to have an actual conversation with her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Glad that some of you are enjoying this. Hope you all have a great weekend and thanks for reading! =)**

 **Chapter Two**

Sophia was usually a picky eater and on most mornings it took her at least forty five minutes to finish her breakfast. Today, however, Carol had to tell her several times to slow down for fear the child would end up choking.

"Do I gotta go to preschool today?" Sophia asked around a mouth full of pancake.

Carol raised her brows at that. Ever since Sophia started preschool she had loved it. She never whined or pouted about going and she always had stories to share about how exciting her day was. She didn't look ill, which was something that always scared Carol. That something would happen to the girl. That she would get sick and not get better. It was irrational but it couldn't be helped.

"Do you not feel well?" she asked, her eyes roaming over Sophia's face worriedly.

Sophia shook her head. "I feel good but I wanted to do something today."

Carol smiled, still a little surprised. "Have you gone and made plans behind my back? What did you want to do today?"

Sophia slid down a little in her chair and shrugged, her wide eyes looking troubled.

"Sophia?" Carol pressed.

"I don't have a daddy," she said quietly, picking at her food now and refusing to meet Carol's eyes.

Carol felt a twinge of regret and a good measure of pain at the girl's words. "Honey, we've talked about this before."

"I know that but Carl at school is always going on and on about his dad being a policeman and always bragging on getting to sit in a policeman's car and he sure ain't the only one neither. Adam was tellin' everybody about how him and his dad worked all day on their truck. Jenny told me her dad showed her how to go fishing. On and on at snack time that was all everybody talked about was their dads. I was the only one that couldn't tell any stories."

"I could take you fishing," Carol said, trying hard to hide the sadness that seemed to be pressing against her lungs.

Sophia still wouldn't look at her. "It just wouldn't be the same, mama. You show me things all the time but not like a dad would."

Carol bit her lip, swallowing hard. "Is that why you don't want to go today? Because you feel like you're different?"

Sophia scrunched up her face. "Not really. I just have a few things to do today is all."

Carol sighed. "Well, I'm afraid you aren't the only one. I have a few errands to run myself and you need to go to school. You can do what you needed to do when you come home this afternoon."

Sophia looked like she was about to argue and then changed tactics. "Okay."

"Okay?" Carol asked, amazed that this was going to be so easy.

She nodded. "I'll be right back. I left something outside yesterday."

Before Carol could tell her that she had already gathered up all of her toys the night before the girl was out the back door. Gathering up the dishes and taking them to the sink she was surprised to see her daughter back at the fence. She frowned and stepped outside just in time to see Daryl take something from Sophia's hand.

"Don't look at it till later, okay?" Sophia said quickly, glancing over her shoulder and spotting Carol coming towards them.

"Sophia what are you doing?" Carol asked, glancing at Daryl. He had a folded piece of paper in hand but he slid it into his back pocket without opening it, since Sophia had asked him to wait.

"Nothing," Sophia said. "Let's go, mom. You have errands and stuff to run." She ran past Carol and hurried into the house.

"What did she give you?" Carol asked, frowning.

He shrugged. "I don't know. She said not to look at it till later."

She eyed him. "Well, she's four years old, now is as later as two hours from now. Can I see it? Please?"

He reached into his pocket and unfolded the paper, looking down at it. His brows pulled down, forming a deep frown but soon his look smoothed out and the corner of his mouth pulled up. When he reached the paper over the fence he was watching her carefully.

Carol looked down at the picture. It was hard to make out at first because Sophia's markers had smeared a bit in her apparent rush to get the picture finished, but it eventually became clear what it was. Three people, one smaller than the other two, standing in front of a scribbly line that Carol realized was the fence. The one on the other side of the fence, obviously Daryl, had a rectangle in his hand, which Carol assumed was the glass from the day before. All of them were smiling. Even the large sun in one corner of the picture was smiling. It was a happy picture, colorful and cute, but it made Carol want to cry.

The girl had apparently fixated on Daryl, for whatever reason. This was why she had brought up the other childrens fathers this morning.

"You alright? It's just a picture," Daryl said, suddenly breaking her out of her reverie.

Carol handed it back to him and tried to smile. "I wish it were only a picture," she said so quietly that he didn't hear her.

He folded it up carefully and slid it into his wallet, which Carol thought was really sweet since the man didn't look sweet and it was just a four year old's drawing. He would likely throw it out when he got inside but she appreciated how careful he was with it in front of her. "Tell her thanks," he said, glancing over her shoulder.

"I'll do that. Have a good day, Daryl," she said, turning back towards the house.

"You too," he muttered.

~H~

Daryl didn't know why but he felt bad for the kid next door. He also felt bad for her mom, even though he wasn't exactly sure what the problem was. There obvious was one. He unfolded the picture and shook his head at it. The girl wasn't likely to become the next Picasso any time soon but the fact that she'd go through the trouble of drawing him anything was kind of nice. Not that he'd admit it to anybody else.

He stuck the picture to the fridge with a goofy looking magnet shaped like a peanut wearing a hula skirt. He didn't know where the hell Merle got crap like this but at least now it served a purpose. He opened the refrigerator door and made a face at the contents. Leftover takeout wasn't exactly the breakfast of champions but it was all he had on hand. He wasn't much of a cook but he couldn't keep eating this garbage.

He shut the door with a scowl on his face and decided that it was time. He had no choice at all. He would have to go to the grocery store. Goddamn, he hated doing shit like that.

~H~

Carol had no idea where the day had gone. She had taken the car in for a tune up, visited a friend for a few hours, paid a few bills and now it was time to pick Sophia up from school. She hadn't even made it to the store before realizing how late it had gotten. She was preoccupied, which was the reason the hours flew away from her. She hoped that her daughter was over this little funk she had sank into because Carol hated seeing the girl so bothered.

In the last few years their lives had become almost perfect but she'd never put much thought into Sophia missing out on certain things just because Ed wasn't around. Hell, if he had been around it wasn't like he would take her fishing or let her help him fix things. She wouldn't be able to brag about her father being a used car salesman. But Sophia was four and she didn't understand these things. All she understood was that she was missing out on things and wanted to remedy that.

Carol was going to have a long talk with her, but she wasn't sure what good it would do.

They headed down the frozen food isle and Carol was distracted with the assortment of vegetables, wondering how she would get a child to eat zucchini, and didn't realize that Sophia had dashed away from the cart until she heard the girl's voice at the end of the isle. She looked up in a panic and saw Sophia standing there with the neighbor.

He looked embarrassed as Sophia peered into his cart. Carol groaned as she made her way towards them. She had been hoping that the two of them could have a talk about Daryl before seeing him again.

"Mom, look at all these!" Sophia said, looking up at her with wide eyes.

Carol glanced into the cart and smiled despite herself. It was full of frozen dinners and junk food. She met his eyes and laughed at the defensive look on his face. "I take it you aren't much of a chef?"

He shook his head and looked down at the girl. "Ain't nothin' wrong with TV dinners. They have vegetables in'em."

"Mom says they're full of stuff that's bad for you. She says that people that eat things like this all the time aren't very healthy."

"Hmm, sounds like your mom is a big ol know it all if you ask me," he muttered, causing Carol to laugh again.

"She is," Sophia said quickly, not understanding that it wasn't exactly a compliment. "She knows just about everything except for how to fix cars and go fishing. You can show me, though. I need to learn that kind of stuff."

His brows shot up and he glanced up at Carol for help. It was obvious he wasn't used to children and wasn't sure what to say.

"Sophia, Daryl's obviously busy, and if he wants to eat that junk then that's his own business, not ours."

Sophia looked between them. "Not if you bring him home and feed him. Tonight you were gonna make chicken and potatoes and all kinds of other stuff and you were gonna bake a cake. You said I could help. Can he come eat too?"

"Sophia, maybe we should-"

"Mama, his heart will attack if he eats this stuff! You can't just let him! Please!"

Carol frowned. Sophia wasn't prone to dramatics of any kind. She rarely ever threw the kind of tantrums that other children her age were prone to throw. She was mature and understanding, even though she was sensitive.

The girl looked up, eyes wide and flooded with tears. It was like looking at the most pitiful thing a person could imagine. The tears quickly brimmed over, spilling down her cheeks.

"Jesus, I'll come over," Daryl said suddenly, his eyes wide and worried. "As long as you cut that leaky shit out. Lookin' like one of them hungry kids on TV."

Carol wasn't even about to object. She was surprised and a little embarrassed over how her daughter was acting but she was mostly just concerned. She looked up and caught Daryl staring at her, clearly unsure if he'd made the right call by agreeing to come over. Technically Carol hadn't invited him and he likely didn't feel comfortable taking a four year old up on the offer of dinner. Carol forced a smile. "Just come over around six, if you want."

He nodded and then Carol gripped Sophia by the hand. The two of them were going to have a long talk about this and she wasn't looking forward to it. She didn't know what to say to convince the girl that the neighbor couldn't be a replacement father. It was a ludicrous idea, even for a four year old. Daryl was a stranger to them and now they had just given him an invitation to come into their house.

It was her job to keep her daughter safe, not bend to her every whim. But it looked like she would have to wait to insert that attitude tonight, after Daryl left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy Halloween! This is one of my favorite days of the year! Hope everyone had a safe weekend and as always thanks for reading! =)**

 **Chapter Three**

Several times he made the decision not to go over to the house next door. He wasn't obligated to go and Carol could deal with the girl on her own. It wasn't his problem that the kid had a damn bee in her bonnet for whatever reason. Hell, he didn't even like kids. Mouthy little fuckers, every one of them.

Well, every one of them he'd ever met up until meeting the kid next door.

He sighed, ran a hand through his overgrown hair, and stalked off down his sidewalk. She was lucky he was half starved or he'd be at home. He was only going over there to eat some free food that wasn't out of a box or a take out bag. That was it. If he wasn't as hungry as he was then he'd...

Carol stepped outside, smiled uncertainly and then closed the door behind herself. "I have no idea what's gotten into that child. I hope you don't feel like you have to come over here."

He paused at the bottom of the steps. "I look like the type to do anything I don't wanna do?" he asked, distracted by the neckline of her shirt. She wasn't showing much skin but for some fucked up reason he couldn't look away.

The uncertain smile on her face turned genuine. "Well, good, because I made enough to feed an Army. Thanks for doing this. I've tried to talk to her, tell her that inviting random people to the house isn't a good thing but apparently you're her friend, not a stranger and we are obligated to feed you."

He shrugged. "She ain't so bad," he muttered, finally climbing the steps and following her inside. The smell that hit him had his mouth watering and suddenly his stomach rumbled so loud that she stopped mid stride and turned, her eyes widening.

"My God, she was right. You must be starving."

He turned red, cursing his appetite but unable to convince his stomach to play it cool. He followed her to the kitchen and it only got worse. She pointed to the table and he sat down. It seemed like she was in a hurry to get this over with and he didn't even blame her. It was awkward and he didn't know what the fuck to say to her because he'd never been in a situation where he was forced to socialize like this.

After a few minutes, while he sat there like an idiot and she busied herself with the cooking, the kid came high tailing it around the corner. She spotted him right away and she grinned. Her own chair had a booster seat on it so she wouldn't have to struggle to reach her food and she climbed up as fast as she could.

"I wasn't sure if you'd show up," she said, glancing at her mom.

He shrugged. "I said I would."

She nodded. "I know it, but my mama thinks men are liars. I heard her tell my aunt Andrea so just the other day."

Carol was busy at the other side of the room so she hadn't heard her daughter. He looked down at her. "Well, I ain't a liar."

"That's good. I ain't either. I'm also smarter than other kids my age. I'm not bragging but that's what Miss Jay told my mom when I started preschool. She told her I was already ready for Kindergarten but my mom said it would be better to start out with preschool."

He nodded along as she chattered away but it didn't take long for Carol to bring the food to the table and that was enough to shut everyone up. He had to give it to her, the woman could fucking cook. And he doubted that he was only thinking that because he was so accustomed to eating bullshit all the time. He didn't even realize he was making a goddamn hog of himself until he looked up and saw Carol watching him, trying to hide a smile. Sophia was staring wide eyed as he chewed.

"What?" he asked around a mouth full of chicken.

Carol stopped hiding the smile, grinned at him and shook her head, looking down at her own plate but Sophia couldn't refrain from commenting.

"See, mom. He don't have any manners at all. He needs a wife so she can teach him that it isn't nice to suck your fingers at the table, or talk while you eat."

He nearly choked at that and he wasn't the only one. Carol gave the girl a no nonsense look. "Sophia, Daryl is our neighbor and nothing more than that, do you understand?" she asked, eying the girl.

Sophia looked down. "Yeah, I was just-"

"And that's all he's ever going to be. This... whatever you think should happen, isn't happening, okay? No more talking about it."

The girl nodded but she didn't look up again. She picked at her food and didn't say anything else until Carol was clearing the table. Daryl didn't say anything at all. He felt sorry for the kid and was completely confused as to why she would try to play the tiny match maker. It was now obvious that that had been what she was trying to do, even though she really didn't understand exactly what she was doing.

After a few minutes she looked up, just as Carol sat down a plate with a huge slice of cake on it. The girl eyed the slice that was sat in front of her but then looked up. "I'm tired. Is it okay if I go on to bed?" she asked.

Carol frowned. "Without dessert?"

The girl didn't look up. "I'm not very hungry anymore." Her voice was so low and so full of sadness that he found himself frowning down at his hands, wanting to say something, anything, to make the kid smile again, but nothing came to mind. He felt a little useless.

Daryl wasn't used to kids but he knew that a lot of them would pull shit like this to gain the upper hand. Somehow, though, he knew that this kid wasn't doing that. He didn't understand why the hell she wanted him around so much but her mother's words seemed to have drained her. Again, he tried to think of something he could do or say to bring that spark and spunk back into her eyes but it wasn't his place. Besides, there really wasn't anything that he could say. Carol was right. She had amused the girl by having him come here but it was clear that it hadn't been a very good idea.

"If you're sure. Let's go brush your teeth and wash up. I'll get your pajamas ready," Carol said, unable to mask her concern. When she came around the table she paused next to his chair, her hand going to his shoulder. "Do you mind staying for a few more minutes? I have coffee."

He nodded and watched her lead the girl out of the room. In the doorway Sophia looked back over her shoulder, her large eyes meeting his briefly. He felt bad for her but, again, there wasn't anything that could be done about it. He even felt a little guilty for eating the kid's slice of cake but it wasn't like she wanted it.

"Sorry about that," Carol said as she breezed back into the room a few minutes later.

He watched her go to the counter, his eyes zeroing in on her because she had changed into a pair of pajama bottoms that agreed with her curves. He was so focused on the soft flare of her hips and the firm roundness of her ass that he hadn't noticed that she was now looking at him from over her shoulder. He met her eyes, took note of the blush that marred her cheeks and looked away quickly.

He felt a flush of his own creep up his throat until the tips of his ears were burning. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Did you eat Sophia's cake?" Carol asked, forcing him to look up again.

He shrugged. "She wasn't eatin' it."

She laughed quietly. "If you'd like I can send you some leftovers home. We throw out so much food around here. Sophia eats like a typical four year old. I hate that so much goes to waste."

He shrugged but he was already looking forward to having something to eat in the morning.

"You probably want to go," she said absently as she filled several containers full of tonight's dinner, then a few more with other odds and ends that she pulled out of her fridge.

The truth was, he really wasn't in any hurry to go. It was pretty dull at home and if he was honest with himself, he'd admit that he was kind of lonely too. Instead of agreeing with her he simply shrugged. "I'll probably just end up sittin' on the porch. There ain't a whole lot happenin' at my place. Besides, you said coffee, right?"

The grin she flashed had his pulse quickening and he had no idea why. He felt like an idiot for blatantly making up excuses to stay. He didn't even know why he wanted too.

"Actually, you have no idea how badly I need adult conversation right now. When you live with a child as young as Sophia, sometimes you just want to communicate with someone that's grown."

He snorted and grabbed the cup she handed him before standing up. "Trust me, if you knew my brother then you'd know that I'm in the same boat."

She smiled, blushed again and looked away. "Porch?"

He nodded and followed her out. She sat in one of the wicker chairs, pulling her knees up and staring out into the dark yard. Night insects filled the silence with a lulling song as he sat down on the other side of the glass topped table.

"This has become a nightly ritual for me," she said with a smile. The moonlight silvered the night around them but left the porch in shadow.

"You too, huh?" he asked.

She turned her head. "You're telling me that I've been over here sitting by myself and you were just one porch away?" She raised her brow dramatically.

He snorted. "Yep."

"Well if you ever get lonely just hop the fence. It's kind of nice having company."

He didn't say anything to that but he thought that he'd likely end up taking her up on that offer. It wasn't something he would have done if it had been anyone else to offer an extended invitation but there was something about the woman that he liked. And he didn't like many people.

He babied the coffee because it was an excuse to linger and he felt like a jackass for doing it. She was probably ready to get back inside and check on her kid. Thinking about the kid made him feel kind of bad and he finally broke the silence.

"You think she's gonna be alright?" he asked without looking over.

Carol sighed and shifted in the seat. "I think so. Up until now she hadn't realized she was much different from any of the other kids. I mean, I'm sure she has little friends who have divorced parents but they still have both of them. Sophia only has me and she's too little to really understand why she can't have what they have. I don't even know how to explain it to her, really. She's come up with this absurd idea that she can just pick a father and then she'll be like all the other kids. It's damn depressing."

He chewed his lip, frowning at the moonlit yard. "Where is he? Her dad I mean?"

Carol sighed. "I wish I could say she really didn't have one. That I was desperate for a child so I had myself artificially inseminated but that's a lie. My ex husband was basically horrible and I left. I guess that's about all I can say about that. Sophia was two. He was killed last year during a burglary. Before he died I finally had him talked into signing over his rights. He didn't want her anyway, just wanted something to hold over my head. It was the amount of child support he was ordered to pay that changed his mind. Just like that, he signed her off." She sounded bitter now and he understood why she would.

He looked at her now but her eyes seemed far away, trained on a spot in the yard where shadows prevailed. When she looked up her wide eyes locked onto his for a few tense moments and then she smiled.

"I better get inside."

He stood up and grabbed the bag she had given him. She was standing in front of him now and suddenly he found himself staring at her mouth, ripe and inviting. He internally cursed himself and forced his eyes to come back up and meet hers. This wasn't the end of a fucking date. It wasn't like he had any reason to want to kiss her but he found himself wanting to do just that. It was a strange need, since he'd never really cared much for kissing before. Sex was one thing because there was a goal behind it but he'd never just looked at a woman and wanted to kiss her. He cleared his throat, tried to clear his mind while he was at it.

"Thanks again for coming," she said quietly.

He nodded. "Thanks for the grub."

She grinned, he stared. "Maybe we'll run into one another again sometime."

He glanced over his shoulder at his own dark house and finally smiled. "Yeah, somethin' tells me you might be right."

She laughed at that but still didn't make a move to go inside and he didn't make a move to go down the steps. The sound of a phone ringing caused both of them to jump slightly. "Goodnight, Daryl," she said, slipping inside.

He nodded and took off, walking faster than he needed to, back to his own place.


	4. Chapter 4

**I went over this but I'm about to fall asleep so I may have missed a ton of typos. I'm still surprised that you guys enjoy this story so much but I'm damn glad! Thanks for reading =)**

 **Chapter Four**

Carol had been so sure that Sophia would snap out of her little funk but after days went by she realized that it wasn't going to be that easy. Sophia was quieter than usual and at times she was downright sullen. She would snap out of it for a while but then sink right back into her little depression.

After picking her up from school the girl seemed okay, and Carol thought that maybe it was over, until they got home and she started going through the papers in Sophia's bag. Stuffed down in the very bottom, wadded up almost angrily, was a reminder for the students that the following Thursday they were having something called Donuts With Dad. Carol stared at the paper, trying to smooth out the angry lines, and felt her heart hurt for the child. The reminder had been given a month in advance, apparently to make sure all of the dad's would have time to make work arrangements if need be.

"Can I go play?"

Carol folded up the paper and shoved it in her back pocket, forcing a smile. "Sure, honey. I'll be out there in a just a second, okay? I'll fix us some tea."

Sophia nodded and headed outside, not running like she usually did at the prospect of playing out in the yard. Her large clear eyes subdued. Carol ignored the sting of tears in her own eyes, blinking them back stubbornly as she readied their drinks. She stepped out onto the back porch setting the tray down on the small table that sat between the chairs.

Sophia was hedging towards the fence that separated their yard from Daryl's. Carol squinted and saw that there was a piece of paper rolled up and shoved through one of the links. She frowned, wondering what it could be and almost called for Sophia to leave it alone, but it seemed like he'd put it there specifically for the girl to find. She sat on the step and watched Sophia pull it free and carefully unroll it. She stooped when something fell to the ground but didn't look at the object she had dropped because she was busy studying the paper.

After a few long seconds she opened her hand and looked at what had fallen. Carol watched the girl's eyes light up and a smile graced her face. A wide happy grin that Carol hadn't laid eyes on in days. Sophia glanced into Daryl's empty back yard and then raced towards Carol so fast she nearly slammed into her.

"Look!" Sophia nearly shouted, thrusting something into Carol's hand.

She looked down and bit her lip. It was a little charm that you could put on a chain or a bracelet. Shaped like a slice of cake with chocolate frosting and a smiling face. She laughed. "I think Mr. Dixon just paid you back. He stole your dessert when he came for dinner the other night." She was touched at the gesture, that the man would think to do something to make the girl smile. Just the day before, talking to him from over the fence, she had unburdened her worries about her daughter. He had been polite, nodding along at the right moments but she hadn't assumed he'd cared about what she had told him.

"And look at this!" Sophia almost shouted, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she thrust the paper at her.

Carol took it and looked down and covered her mouth. It didn't work because she was hit with a fit of laughter. Sophia joined in, unable to stifle her own giggles. It was a pencil drawing, a very good one. A scruffy cartoon man was sitting at a table in front of a mountain of food. His cheeks were bulging and he looked to be saying something, even though his mouth was so full. In the chair next to him was a little girl, staring up at the man with exaggeratedly large eyes. It was so clear who the duo was. It had taken so much skill to draw this that she had a hard time imagining Daryl being able to do it. A man that could wield a sledgehammer with the ferocity that Daryl could seemed incapable of holding a pencil as delicately as he would have had to hold it to draw this.

"Isn't it the greatest thing you've ever seen?" Sophia asked, obviously proud.

"I think it might be the single greatest thing I've ever seen, yes," she said, but she was really speaking of the smile on her daughter's face and the happiness shining in her eyes.

"I wanna wear this. Can I borrow a necklace?"

Carol stood up and ushered her into the house. "I think I have just the thing but you don't have to borrow it. You can have it."

"I can't wait to show Carl tomorrow!"

She led her inside and to her own bedroom where she had a jewelry box stashed in the closet. She had a thin gold chain, a gift from her own mother when she had been about ten years old. She slid the charm in place and then turned the girl around, fastening it.

Sophia was admiring the charm as she walked back outside. Carol expected to see Daryl in his yard now, since that's what he had been doing for days, but he wasn't there. Sophia seemed back to normal for the moment and Carol desperately wanted to thank the man for doing this for her.

~H~

He still wasn't sure if he had done the right thing. Carol had talked his damn ear off about how worried she was about the girl and so he did what he could. Now he wasn't so sure if he had made the right decision. He hadn't thought about how it would confuse the kid further. Now he didn't know what the hell Carol was going to say about it. Maybe he should have just left it alone.

He was going to find out soon, though, regardless of whether he wanted to or not. He had eaten everything she'd sent him and now he had a bag of clean Tupperware to take back. It was actually his excuse to go over there. He was worried that she was pissed at him for what he did but he was still curious if the stupid drawing and the cheap cake charm had at least helped.

He was surprised at himself for really giving a shit either way.

Another reason for the short trip was because he wanted to see the woman. He had never chased women before. They came to him via his brother and it was a mutual, if unspoken, agreement that it meant nothing. But he hadn't even indulged in that in years. He was completely off his game here, more confused than anything, but still willing to test the waters. It was like his mind wasn't exactly willing to cooperate with him anymore.

He climbed the steps and knocked on the door. If he hadn't had a legit reason for being here he may have hesitated. Or maybe not. Hell, he didn't even know anymore. The door opened and Carol smiled. He was about to hold up the bag of bowls to show her why he was there but it slipped out of his hand and smacked her in the leg before hitting the floor.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head as he flushed furiously. She glanced down and then her brows went up.

"You threw Tupperware at me," she deadpanned.

He blew out a breath but didn't respond right away. He watched her glance over her shoulder and then she stepped out, not even bothering picking up the bag. She pulled the door shut and then, to his surprise, her arms were around his neck. His eyes widened but his hands went to her waist. When she pulled back her hands stayed on his shoulders and the front of her was still pressed against the front of him. He kept his hands where they had landed but the urge to slide them over her hips was an excruciating thing.

"I don't know what possessed you to do what you did for her but thank you," she said, her words low and full of emotion.

He nodded, realized a little too late that while her words were distracting him his hands took on a mind of their own and moved to her hips, the tips of his fingers flexing slightly. He quickly dropped his hands and she took a step back, that now familiar blush staining her cheeks.

Fuck, he needed to get back home. He couldn't think straight anymore.

"I was actually about to call you. You hungry?" she asked, pretending that the awkward moment didn't happen.

"I could eat," he said, glancing at the door.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. "Feeding you is the least I can do."

He shook his head. "Wasn't nothin'. I spent five dollars and a few hours with a pencil. No big deal."

"It was sweet and thoughtful and to her, it meant the world. Don't sell yourself short."

He followed her through the house to the kitchen and the girl was there, sitting at the table and focusing on a Lego tower she was building. She glanced up and then did a double take, her eyes widening when she saw him there. She stood up in the chair she'd been sitting in and hurriedly walked over the seat of the other chair. Startled, thinking she was about to face plant the floor, he caught her as she was about to jump down.

Before he could set her down her arms went around his neck, much like her mother's had out on the porch. He wasn't used to all this sappy hugging shit but she was a four year old so he wasn't about to leave her hanging or toss her onto the kitchen floor.

"Thanks, Daryl," she said once she let go of his neck. He was still holding her and she seemed perfectly comfortable there. She pulled out the charm. "Mom gave me my own gold chain. It's real and everything."

He examined it, made the correct impressed expressions and then finally sat her back down on her feet.

"And you gotta see what else she gave me," she said excitedly, grabbing his hand and tugging him towards the door.

He glanced back at Carol but she was following, trying to hide a smile. Once the girl pulled him into a room off the hall she let go and raced towards the bed. She grabbed a framed photo from her nightstand and held it up, beaming.

"Now if I'm ever in a sad mood I can just look right at this and start laughing all over again."

He snorted. He hadn't realized that it would be such a big deal but he was wrong. It was a strange feeling but it wasn't a bad one. The truth was, when Carol had told him about the trouble she'd been having, it had ate at him a little. He knew what it was like to be a confused little kid. A kid that felt like they were different, and that maybe people that were suppose to care, simply didn't care at all. It was hard and it fucking hurt. This kid didn't deserve to feel that way.

Not that he thought he could swoop in and be some sort of father figure to the kid. He barely knew her, and he sure as fuck wasn't father material anyway, but that didn't mean he couldn't show her that people cared about her. That, in a way, _he_ cared about her; that she was worth more than she'd probably ever realize.

He didn't feel as awkward sitting there with them this time. If he was being honest with himself, and he rarely was, he'd admit that it was kind of nice. The kid chattered away about this and that, the food was great, and every time he looked up at Carol she looked away, like she'd been watching him. He even made it a point to not talk while his mouth was full.

Sophia didn't make any comments about Daryl's need for a wife, so that was a plus. She did grill him a little. She asked if he had a girlfriend and then she asked him if he wanted one. Carol had cleared her throat and it had put an end to that, though the kid grinned at them both.

~H~

Carol waited on Sophia to brush her teeth so she could help her into her pajamas. Even though she was still excited she was rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Can't I wear it to bed?" she asked, her voice whiny with sleep as Carol unfastened the chain.

She smiled. "Not unless you want to cut it out of your hair in the morning. I'll leave it right here beside your picture."

Sophia climbed into bed, yawning loudly. "Daryl's still here."

Carol nodded. "Yes he is. He'll be leaving soon, though."

"Are you ever gonna kiss him?"

Carol felt her eyes grow wide. "Now why on earth would you think I'd go and do a thing like that?"

"I don't know," she mumbled. "Maybe cause when you were on the phone with Andrea, I heard you talkin' about how nice he is and how you think he's so good looking and he looks at you like he might think you're so good looking too. And he likes you're cooking and he likes me and he didn't talk with his mouth full so he's least learnin'."

Carol eyed her. "Did you tell him what you heard me telling Andrea?" she already knew the answer to that.

"I did. I just had to cause I knew you wasn't gonna tell him and he should know things like that!" Sophia said, her small face as serious as Carol had ever seen it.

She groaned and shook her head. "When did you tell him that?"

"When you said I could go back to the kitchen to tell him goodnight."

"And what did he say?"

"He just turned red and told me to get my nosy ass to bed. But he meant it funny like. He wasn't being mean. I think you might have embarrassed him, mom. He looked embarrassed."

Carol smothered her laughter. "Don't say ass. And don't go repeating other people. You were eaves dropping."

Sophia's eyes were drifting now. "I knew you wouldn't tell him and somebody had to."

Carol sighed and pulled the quilt up under her nosy daughter's chin, kissed her forehead and then turned off the bedside lamp. She left the door ajar, pausing in the hallway to collect herself. She wished that the girl hadn't told him something like that. Now all she could do was damage control.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five already. This is sliding along smoothly! Huge thanks for reading! You're all awesome =)**

 **Chapter Five**

Carol slipped back into the kitchen, hoping her face didn't give away the fact that she knew what Sophia had told the man. It would only make things more awkward for both of them. He was absentmindedly tracing the wood grain in the table top. He glanced up, met her eyes and then quickly looked away.

Damn it.

She sighed, deciding that being up front was probably the best option instead of pretending that Sophia hadn't said anything. She took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the door frame. "Well, we might as well get this out of the way. So, I think you're an extremely nice guy and it doesn't hurt that you're so good looking. Now, can we move on?"

He drummed his fingers on the table, his ears turned a bright shade of red and he glanced up at her from under his brow. "Well you sure as fuck know how to make an awkward situation worse," he grumbled.

She bit her lip to keep from smiling but it didn't work. There wasn't anything else she could do. "I'm sorry if you're embarrassed but saying something about it is better than pretending she didn't hear it and repeat it."

He stood up, running his hand through his hair, pushing it away from his forehead. "Speak for yourself. I come from a long line of pretenders."

She laughed, though she was embarrassed herself, it didn't take away from the fact that he seemed flustered and it only made him look hotter. "Okay, we'll pretend that you didn't hear a word from either of us then, how's that?"

He was still blushing but now he was trying to give her a severe look. This was actually pretty fun. He shook his head. "That ain't how it works," he griped, stepping past her.

She grabbed his wrist without thinking, wanting him to know how much he had done for her daughter today. He stopped and she felt his muscles tense under her fingers but when he looked at her he didn't look upset; only inquisitive. She reached into her back pocket and handed him the folded piece of paper.

He quirked a brow and looked from the paper back to her. "We passin' notes now? Kinda childish, don't you think?"

She snorted despite herself.

He took it and read over it quickly, his teeth worrying his bottom lip. She watched as he folded the paper and, to her surprise, shoved it into his own pocket.

She shrugged lightly, fighting back the sting of tears that the stupid note caused to prick at her eyes. "I just wanted you to know that this is why what you did today was a lot more important than you might think. I think that getting that stupid reminder was the reason she acted the way she did the other day, and why she's been so down since then."

He didn't seem comfortable with thanks or praise of any kind but he nodded, like he at least understood that he did a great thing, even if he hadn't really meant to. "I just figured I owed her. I did steal her food and she drew me a somethin' first," he said, undermining his own kindness.

She shook her head. "You knew how sad she'd been so you did it to cheer her up. And I appreciate it."

"We gonna hug it out now?" he deadpanned.

She barked out a laugh and slapped his arm. "You're an ass."

He nodded. "That's better."

She tried to scowl at him but ended up laughing at his expression. "Will you come over for dinner tomorrow night?"

He shrugged. "You gonna start chargin' me?"

She nodded. "Actually, yes, I am. I have a few things that are in desperate need of a man's touch and I figured that if you came a little early then you can work on a few of them before I feed you."

He swallowed hard and his eyes darkened slightly and then she ran her words through her mind once more and realized how she must have sounded.

"My dishwasher!" she said, more loudly than she meant too. "I was talking about my dishwasher! And the bar in my closet keeps falling. I wasn't talking about-"

His brows were about to disappear into his hairline. "Okay."

"Stop looking at me like that!" she laughed and then pushed him towards the doorway. "Go home and stop making me so flustered."

He snorted. "All I did was show up and eat your food. You're the one flusterin' yourself. Get a grip, woman."

"Goodnight, Daryl," she said, bracing her hand on the front door.

"Night," he said, shaking his head at her. He didn't even use the steps. He walked to the edge of the porch closest to his house and bounded over the railing like he was a five year old.

~H~

The next evening he showed up at her house earlier than he needed to, tool box in hand. He was good at fixing shit. He actually made a decent living at it so he was in his comfort zone, or so he thought. When she opened the door there was no hope of him reigning in his eyeballs. His fingers flexed at the sight of her, the toolbox clattered to the floor and he cursed out loud, the heat nearly searing his face.

He bent down, shoving the tools that had spilled back into the box, looked up quickly and scowled at her. She was covering her mouth with her hand and it was clear she was laughing. But it wasn't his damn fault. It was the damn dress's fault. It was like she'd worn the damn thing on purpose! He was a man, so sure he'd stare.

"Laugh it up," he muttered, standing up.

She winked, because she was an asshole. "I didn't take you for a clumsy guy so it's a little funny, Mr. Sure Foot." She moved out of the way and gestured for him to come inside. "Seriously, though, thank you for taking a look at this. It's been broken for months."

"It's likely somethin' simple. Usually is."

Five minutes after pulling the machine out and taking a look, it was working again. She stood there, her expression impressed but also a little annoyed. The kid bounded into the room, as exuberant as ever, firing questions at him for a half hour, wanting to know what every damn tool in the box was and what it was used for. He didn't mind. Sitting on the floor explaining tools to a four year old was a hell of a lot better than sitting at home being bored out of his mind.

"Maybe when I'm grown I'll be as good as you and can get a job fixing things," she said, thoughtfully examining a pair of vice grips.

He nodded. "Or you can do one better and learn how to build things instead. That's where the money's at."

"You build things?" she asked, trading one tool for another and muttering the name and it's use under her breath like remembering their function was crucial.

"Yep."

"Like what?"

"Motorcycles."

She looked up, eyes as wide as saucers. "You build them? With your bare hands?"

He held up his hands, noticing the stubborn grease stains in the creases and under his nails. "You think I get this dirty by bein' lazy?"

She shook her head. "Do you have your own motorcycle?"

"Have a few of my own. Build them, sell them, then you ain't gotta spend so much time at work."

"Carl's dad is teaching him how to work on cars too. I bet he isn't as good as you." She looked away quickly. "He's always goin' on about all that kinda stuff, cause he knows I ain't got anyone to show me."

He frowned. "Well, tell Old Carl that you got somebody that can show you how to build a whole damn bike. And that's a lot better than knowin' how to work on a car. Hell, anybody can work on a car. I bet your mom can even work on a car and look at her, all girly and shit."

Sophia laughed, glancing up at Carol who shot him a severe look from over her shoulder as she worked at the stove.

"You'll show me?" Sophia asked.

He looked to Carol once more, who smiled at him. He didn't want to overstep but the thought of another kid rubbing shit in when it bothered the girl so much pissed him off. "Yeah, I'll show you."

"He won't believe me. He thinks that I made you up just so I can be like him."

"Well you tell the little shit that-"

"Daryl!"

He looked up again and Carol was staring at him, brows raised. "What? He's bein' a little asshole for no reason!"

"Well she can't go to school and call him a little shit."

"She ought to. That's what he is," he muttered, scowling.

"He really is, mama," Sophia said, nodding sincerely.

"Don't go repeating anything you hear Daryl say," Carol warned.

Sophia sighed. "I won't."

The rest of the evening was a lot like the others that he'd been invited over, but instead of leaving, or sticking around on the porch for a few minutes after Sophia went to bed, she asked him if he wanted to catch a movie. After starting it, however, he found out that she was less interested in watching a movie and more interested in asking him questions.

"I just realized right before dinner that other than your name and where you live, I don't exactly know anything about you at all. I didn't know you built bikes."

"Probably cause when I'm here I'm usually talking to Sophia and not you. She's a lot more easy goin' than you are, you know? Better conversationalist." He wondered idly how in the hell this could be so easy. Talking to her was easy. Making stupid jokes and giving her a hard time seemed to come easily. It wasn't him. Or it wasn't him with anybody else, anyway.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Thirty."

"And you've never been married and you aren't dating anyone. Are you gay?"

He stared at her for a long time before he answered her, wondering if she was serious but she just stared right back. "No, I'm not gay. What makes you think I'm gay?"

"I don't think it, I'm just trying to figure you out," she smiled. "You're all dark and mysterious and I realized today that I've basically given you an open invitation to come over whenever you want and I have a daughter to think about."

"You don't want Sophia hangin' out with gays? I didn't take you for a bigot."

She tossed a pillow at him and he caught it, sitting it on his lap. "That is not what I meant." She looked down picking at a stray thread on the couch. She was sitting on the corner, her back to the cushioned arm with her legs tucked under her. "For some reason you're important to her and I'd just feel more comfortable if I knew more about you. If you're willing to keep coming around, I mean."

He eyed her and then shrugged. "I'm willin'." He couldn't say why he wanted to. He almost felt as though he needed to.

She smiled. "For Sophia, of course."

"Yep."

Conversation was smooth after that, even though she did most of the talking. It seemed like she had a whole lot she wanted to get off her chest. She went into more detail about her marriage, but he knew she was leaving a whole lot out. He realized then that he had known how bad she had had it all along. He had sensed it anyway and that was one of the reasons he was so damn intrigued by her. She hadn't handled her hardships like he had. He had lashed out at the world, turned inward. Of course, their situations had been different, but the same in the ways that mattered.

She was like a kindred spirit. She'd been tormented by someone that had claimed to love her. So had he. So this friendship was starting to make more sense to him and with that knowledge he was able to be a little more comfortable. He learned that they were the same age, had grown up less than twenty miles form one another and she had no living family. Her friend Andrea was an important part of her and Sophia's life and was like a sister to her for the most part.

"... and that's how I ended up working as a legal receptionist. Which is just a fancy word for someone that pours Andrea's coffee and takes care of calls and emails. But at least the schedule is flexible, since she's basically the boss." The clock in the hall struck twelve and she yawned loudly, right in the middle of her explaining how she had ended up living next door. "I didn't realize how late it had gotten," she mumbled, sounding almost disappointed.

"That's my cue," he said, standing up and stretching. He wasn't used to sitting still for so long.

"I didn't mean you had to go." She stood up herself.

"Well, I ain't in he mood to camp out on your couch when I have a bed of my own about fifty feet away."

She walked him to the door and suddenly his mouth was saying words without him having a chance to over analyze them. "You don't always have to do the cooking, you know," he said as he stepped out onto the porch.

She leaned into the frame. "You cook?"

He snorted. "Fuck no, but there's places to go to get food."

"Are you asking me out on a date?" she asked, looking surprised.

He bulked at that, scowling at her. "No!"

"Yes you are." She grinned.

"I was just tryin' to be a nice guy. I'll remember not to bother next time."

She hummed. "So it would be a pity date?"

"Carol," he grumbled, exacerbated.

"That actually sounds nice. A pity date that isn't a date. I've never had one of those."

"You wanna bring Sophia?"

She chewed her lip for a few long seconds and then shook her head. "Would it be okay if it was just me and you?"

He was about to tell her yes but then he felt his brows come down in a frown and he shook his head. "No."

"No?" she repeated, clearly puzzled.

"She'd have to sit here with a babysitter. I've heard stories about shit like that, kids getting roughed up by some teenage idiot. She can go too."

Carol laughed, her eyes dancing. "You are the sweetest man I've ever met."

"No I ain't," he said, sounding more offended than anything.

"You are. I swear you barely know her and you care about her more than her own father ever did. And I appreciate that, I really do, but give me some credit. She adores my friend Andrea and every few months or so they even do sleepovers, just to give me a break. Not that I need one."

His features smoothed out and he nodded. "Fine then."

"When?"

"When what?"

She rolled her eyes. "When are we going out?"

He shrugged. "Hell if I know. Pick a damn night and we'll go."

"Friday."

He was starting to get antsy. Standing here talking about going out with her made it seem like it really was a date and he didn't fucking date women. "Friday sounds good. See ya tomorrow," he said, turning.

"Looking forward to it."


	6. Chapter 6

**We're expecting some rain, which we desperately need since our mountains are on fire at the moment, but if the next update is delayed, that's the reason! Rain always does a number on my internet connection. Hope you all have a good day and thanks for reading! =)**

 **Chapter Six**

When Daryl canceled the "not a" date she had been disappointed to say the least. A part of her assumed that it was simply because he hadn't wanted to go anywhere with her, but then she dismissed that thought when he explained exactly what he had to do. He had recently finished a bike for a man that lived out of state. When the customer had contacted him and offered him a large bonus if he could deliver the bike himself, it was too much for Daryl to turn down.

She had barely gotten to see him since he was so busy all week but she made it a point to fix him a plate every night and hand it over from across the fence.

When he had left that Friday evening Sophia seemed worried that he would like it better in another state and he wouldn't come back at all, forgetting about her while he was having so much fun somewhere else. She hated to admit it but she missed him a little herself. More than a little, actually. She was used to seeing him around now and she was used to having him to talk to, even on the nights that it was just over the fence. It was nice having a friend so close. And it didn't hurt that every single time she saw him her heart beat a little bit faster and her stomach fluttered. She felt a little like a teenager again and it was a wonderful feeling.

Carol took her time waking the girl up because it was the dreaded day that had started this whole roller coaster with the neighbor to begin with. It was Thursday, the day she had been dreading since finding the note in Sophia's bag. She had been better, cheerful and full of that excited energy all week but Carol knew that this morning wouldn't be that way and she really dreaded seeing her daughter so sad. She almost wanted to keep her home from school today but she wouldn't do that. Sophia had to learn that sometimes things were tough but you had to keep your chin up and be strong. It wasn't easy for her to let her little girl do that alone though. Carol felt guilty. She had married a horrible man and had brought a child into the world and now the girl was confused and it wasn't fair.

With a heavy heart she pushed the bedroom door open and was surprised to see that Sophia was already sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing sleep from her eyes. When she looked up she was squinting.

"Mornin'," she muttered, hopping down from the bed.

"Good morning. Why are you up all on your own?" Carol asked, watching as Sophia padded to her dresser.

"I don't know," Sophia yawned. "I heard you so I figured it was time already."

"Do you feel okay this morning?" Carol asked, expecting Sophia to try to get out of going.

"I feel sleepy."

Carol grinned, relieved that Sophia seemed to be okay with going to school even though she would have to watch her friends eat breakfast with their dads. Sophia pulled on a shirt and changed out of her pajamas before handing the necklace that was clenched in her fist to Carol so she could fix the clasp.

"Today is gonna be a good day," Sophia said firmly.

Carol's eyebrows raised at that. "Is it now?"

"Yes."

"And how do you know that?" Carol asked.

"Well, I just think it, so it's gonna be. Sometimes things work that way. When I'm sad or I'm mad, if I just think hard enough and tell myself that it's gonna be a good day, it ends up being a good day. Today is one of those days that could be a bad day but only if I let it be."

"Were you mad or sad about something before you decided this?" Carol asked, never tired of Sophia's small philosophies.

She shrugged and headed towards the bathroom. "Not much mad but a little sad I guess." She shut the bathroom door, leaving Carol standing in the hall to contemplate this new attitude of hers.

~H~

Daryl wasn't as tired as he had expected to be. He had left the Hotel at two in the morning after only managing about four hours of sleep and he had been driving ever since. When his house came into view he drove right past it and pulled in behind Carol's car in her driveway.

The whole fucking time he was gone, he'd missed the hell out of them. It was a strange feeling, one that he was completely unaccustomed to, but there all the same. The kid made him laugh and made him think. The woman made him... well, she just fucked his head all up but not in a bad way. He'd been itching to get back since a few hours after he had left and he was damn glad to be home. Well, maybe not home exactly. His own house was damn lonely but he was glad to be back anyway.

He hopped out of the truck but didn't even make it to the porch before the front door was flung open and the kid nearly broke her neck sprinting down the porch steps. His heart gave a strange little twist that he steadfastly ignored and he barely caught her before she slammed into his legs. He hadn't ever seen anyone so damn happy to see him in his life. "How ya been, runt?" he asked, setting her back on her feet.

"I've been good, you can ask my mom, even this mornin' when I didn't think it would be I did like you told me and just said in my head that I was gonna make it a good one. And then you show up so you really must know what you're talkin' about," she paused and took a deep breath because she was talking a mile a minute. "I'm glad you're back."

His brows went up. "Yeah, me too."

He looked up and realized then that Carol was leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over chest. She grinned at him as Sophia pulled him up the steps.

"I thought you were suppose to be gone all week?" she asked, moving so he could get through the door.

"Had somethin' to do." He stopped in front of her, glancing down at Sophia who looked like she was about to bounce right out of her shoes. He'd had an idea on the way home and had made a pit stop and now he was getting nervous because he wasn't sure if he should have done it or not. Now that he was here it seemed like too much and he didn't want to overstep his bounds here. He wasn't even sure why the hell he had came up with it in the first place. But he knew that today was going to be a rough one for the kid so he just thought... "You got a minute?"

She looked at her watch and shrugged. "I have about five before I have to take Sophia to school. Is everything okay?"

He nodded and then glanced down at the girl again. He didn't want to say anything in front of her, just in case.

Carol got the hint and gave Sophia a gentle push towards the hallway. "How about you go grab your bag so I can talk to Daryl for a minute, okay?"

Without a word the kid took off down the hall, throwing him another grin over her shoulder.

He met Carol's inquisitive stare and felt the blood rush all the way up to his hairline. What the hell had he been thinking? He glanced at the hall but it was deserted. "You gotta work today?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I'm off until Monday. I thought maybe I'd take her out after school and do something fun since today is that stupid Donuts with Dad day."

He nodded. "I thought about that yesterday. Why don't you just let her miss?"

She tilted her head and studied him. "Did you come home early for her?"

The flush deepened and he scoffed. "What? Of course I didn't."

"You weren't suppose to be home until Sunday. You show up today, of all days. You did come home for her." Her expression wasn't easy to read.

He blew out a breath and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Look, I thought maybe she'd be a lot better off missin' school than having to go today and be in a situation where she's different from all the other kids. It ain't right and I got half a damn mind to go up there and tell those stupid assholes just that. They shouldn't have shit like this when some kids have to sit out and feel bad about-"

"Daryl?"

He closed his mouth and waited her out.

"I thought about letting her stay home but I decided not to. She has to learn that sometimes she's gonna have to be strong and go through-"

"She's four! You can't tell me that she needs to learn that kinda shit now. She's just a little girl that feels bad for bein' who she is for reasons that ain't her damn fault."

Carol chewed her lip, looking like she was at least mulling his words over in her mind. He knew that he was overstepping but damn it, he needed her to listen to him.

"Look," he said, taking another route. "I know it ain't none of my business. I know you're the one that has to make hard decisions and all that, okay. I do, and I shouldn't even be here right now because it's your call, but I had to at least throw my two cents in there, even if you don't need it."

"Don't you think that if she missed school, and sat at home with me all day, that it would be just as hard on her as going and facing reality? And the reality is, I'm all she's got, and that's okay because we make the best of it."

He nodded, feeling a little defeated. "I guess you're right. But I didn't mean for her to sit around the house and sulk all day. I thought that..." Now he felt like an idiot. He hadn't known these people for very long and he didn't have any right to try to squeeze himself into their lives.

"Thought what?" she pressed, her eyes searching his.

"I don't know what I thought. It was stupid to even say anything."

"Daryl, you care. I don't know why you care but you do and it does mean a lot, I don't think you'll ever understand how much, that you care enough to come storming over here and shoot off at the mouth like only you can." She smiled.

"Shut up," he grumbled.

She shook her head. "What do you think I should do?"

"Fish," he deadpanned.

She frowned. "What?"

"On my way here I stopped at a damn sporting goods store and I bought her a pole. Take her fishin' or somethin'. Do somethin' fun with her for fucks sake. Just don't make her go to school today." He was pleading.

"You bought her a fishing pole?" she asked, her eyes wide.

Now he was shifting on his feet. She was gonna think he was some sort of fucking freak or something. "Yeah. She said that one of them kids mentioned their dad takin' them fishin' so I thought you could do that."

"You're accent gets thicker when you're all frazzled," she noted, "And it was a really sweet thought but I can't take her fishing. I don't know how."

This brought him up short. "What?"

She shrugged. "I've never been fishing before so I can't show her how. So I'll tell you what I can do. I can let her miss school for today, and you can take both of us if it isn't too much trouble. Then she won't have to dwell on anything."

That had actually been his idea the whole time but after getting here he'd decided to hand over the pole and let Carol do whatever she wanted. Now she was offering and he wasn't stupid. He nodded. "Alright then."


	7. Chapter 7

**It rained all night so hopefully that helped put the wildfires out. Hope you all have a great weekend! Thanks for reading! =)**

 **Chapter Seven**

Carol hadn't been sure if this had been a very good idea but her mind changed quickly when she told Sophia the plan. She had been ecstatic and Carol couldn't remember seeing her so excited for anything. She had admired the new pole, her eyes huge as she took in everything Daryl showed her. When he handed it to her she held it like it was much more than just a fishing pole. Carol guessed that to Sophia, it really was. This wasn't a fishing trip to her. This wasn't a fun day of school skipping. This was a very big thing in her small world.

The spot he took them to was beautiful, the lake was still as glass with the blue sky reflecting off the surface. There was a strip of sand that bore traces that the local wildlife enjoyed the spot. Daryl showed both of them the different tracks, was able to name the animal and even tell them the size. He seemed more at ease out here than she had ever seen him before. She wasn't sure whether to attribute that to the fact that he was simply comfortable with them now, or if this type of place was somehow soothing to him.

Once they got started Daryl grumbled because he had to bait their hooks but she could tell that he didn't really mind. He was preoccupied, showing Sophia how to cast the line and reel it back in, giving her advice and telling her about his own excursions. Sophia listened raptly, not interrupting one time. The sun was beating down on them and she started worrying about Sophia getting a sunburn so she dug around in her bag until she found the sun screen.

"What's that?" Daryl asked.

She held up the bottle. "If you haven't noticed, you're with a couple of pale skins out here. I don't want her to get a sunburn."

"That stuff stinks," Sophia mumbled but she kept her eyes on the bobber.

Daryl made a face of his own and then stood up from the large rock he had been sitting on. "You're gonna smear that gunk all over her?"

Carol sighed. "For a man that doesn't have any kids of his own, you sure are extremely motherly."

He sat down next to her on the log but she ignored the look she knew he was giving her. "You know, there's so many damn chemicals in that crap that it's a lot worse for her than the sun."

She glanced up and shifted until her knees were facing his. "And what would you suggest? Have us both look like lobsters when we're finally ready to go?"

He shook his head. "There's an all natural way for you to avoid sunburn if you're really worried about it. You think the settlers used sun block?"

Carol was about to ask him what it might be but she heard Sophia giggle and looked over. The girl was watching them with a mischievous glint in her eyes but then looked away quickly, pretending to focus on the bobber once more. Carol's brows pulled together in a frown and when she looked at Daryl again he was trying to hide a smile of his own. "Well, we aren't settlers," she muttered in her own defense.

He nodded towards the girl. "Sophia," he said, humor clear in his voice. "What'd I tell you about avoidin' a nasty sunburn if you find yourself out somewhere without none of that stinkin' ass sunblock?"

Sophia glanced at them with a wide grin. "Mud."

Carol hadn't even realized he had moved but suddenly she felt his hands on her bare shoulders, but that wasn't all she felt. She yelled as the cold muck oozed down her arms and she stood up so fast she nearly stumbled. "You ass!"

He stood up from his crouch and swiped his hands down either side of her face before she could back out of reach. She heard Sophia howl with laughter and Daryl was grinning like a lunatic. She swiped at her face but that only seemed to make it worse. She growled and opened her mouth to call him a few select vulgar names but suddenly Sophia was yelling and they both turned.

She was struggling with the pole, reeling in the line as best she could but it didn't seem to be working very well. Daryl hopped down from the log and hurried over but didn't take the pole from her. He crouched down, readjusted her grip on the pole and then waited there while the girl hauled in a fish that looked as big as she was. Daryl whistled low and finally gave her a hand, quickly reeling it the rest of the way in.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about, runt. You must be a natural cause I've sure as hell not caught a fish that big in a long time."

The mud forgotten Carol snatched her camera up and took a few pics of Sophia staring wide eyed as Daryl held the fish up in front of her. The pride she saw in his eyes had her lowering the camera and caused a lump to form in her throat. Sophia wanted to let the fish go, which Carol thought was a good idea but Daryl seemed to think it was a total waste of good food.

As excited as Sophia had been about coming out, she was still young enough to get bored quickly so she abandoned her pole after a while and started playing in the sand, close enough to the water that it almost made her nervous. She had washed off the mud Daryl had smeared on her and was now leaning back on her arms, enjoying the feel of the sun on her face. She smiled to herself as she watched Sophia. She felt a little silly now, remembering how much she dreaded this day.

Sophia scooted a little closer to the waters edge and Carol felt a little spark of panic in her chest, causing her to sit up.

"Don't get any closer to the water, Sophia," she said quickly.

She looked over at the sound of Daryl's heavy sigh. He was sitting next to her, leaning back on his arms and now he was staring at her with his brows raised.

"You tellin' me you ain't taught the girl how to swim?" he asked, looking at her like he was completely disappointed.

She chewed the inside of her lip for a moment, watching him watch her, not really wanting to answer him but knowing he would needle her until she did. "She's four. There's plenty of time to teach her how to swim."

His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her.

"What?" she asked suspiciously.

"You don't know how to swim either, do you?" he asked, looking very much like he was fighting a smile.

"Pffft," she waved him off and stood up, dusting off the seat of her shorts.

He stood up with her. "What's gonna happen if she falls into the lake?" Now he sounded serious.

She frowned, her eyes sliding to her daughter, who wasn't paying any attention to either of them. "We don't go to the lake and if we start then we'll just go with you and then you can save both of us."

He nodded and then looked away, his eyes on the water but looking as though he was seeing something else. They stood there like that for a long time, neither saying anything at all and she was the one that broke it, her own words surprising her but something she had wanted to say even before the perfect day they'd had.

"Do you think you plan on being around a lot? Around Sophia and I, I mean?" she asked, feeling her face flush slightly.

His eyes slid over to hers briefly and he toed the sand with his boot. "Well, unless you plan on movin' away, I guess I'll be around since we're neighbors and all."

She knew that he was well aware that she wasn't talking about if they would remain neighbors for a while. "Did you miss us?" she asked, knowing that personally, she had been counting down the hours until he got back.

He glanced at her and shrugged.

"Is that a no?" she pressed.

He scoffed. "I left four days early, drove like a maniac, stocked up on fishin' supplies for the girl, drug you both out here to get sunburned on a school day. What the hell do you think?"

She smiled then. "Sounds to me like you have it pretty bad for us."

He shook his head, his face flushing. "Sounds to me like you're full of yourself." He met her eyes then.

"I'm starving," Sophia piped up, giving both of them a reason to look away from the other.

Carol eyed the girl and then looked up at Daryl once more. "What about you?" she shook her head. "That was a stupid question. You're always hungry."

He frowned. "I'd try to argue but I can't. It's the damn truth."

She expected him to take them home but he drove up to a drive through. He ordered two large hot fudge sundaes with extra whip cream and then turned to Carol, raising a brow. "Daryl, I'm not ordering her ice cream for lunch," she said, keeping her voice low so Sophia wouldn't hear her.

He grinned. "I figured that so I did it myself. What do _you_ want to eat?"

"I'm not eating ice cream for lunch either!"

He shrugged, ordered a salad to go with the Sundaes and pulled up to the window. Carol glared at him but he ignored her, refusing to look at her now.

"She can't eat a whole large Sundae by herself!"

They ended up at the park across the street with Carol sitting across from them, Daryl and Sophia looking like their ice cream was the best in the world while Carol stabbed at her lettuce dejectedly. She kept flashing Daryl dirty looks but every time he'd catch her glaring at him he'd smirk and lick his spoon. He was doing it to be a smart ass but in all actuality, the sight of his tongue made her flush.

"Mama, you can share with me. I can't believe you picked salad over ice cream."

Daryl grinned. "I can't either. Your mom's crazy." He scooted his food to the middle of the table and produced another plastic wrapped spoon out of then air, handing it to her. Against her better judgment she slid her salad away and helped him finish off the Sundae.

After they were finished eating Sophia took off towards the playground equipment and Daryl stepped right onto the table top and took a seat next to Carol. She glanced over at him but he wasn't paying any attention to her. His forearms were resting on his thighs, his head down as he picked at a hangnail. He looked to be deep in thought.

"What next?" she asked, breaking him out of his reverie.

He looked over sharply and his eyes locked onto hers, his gaze intense. "What?" he asked, the look on his face never changing.

She smiled slightly. "Well, we've fished, we had a horrible lunch, now she's having a great time over there. I was just wondering what else you were going to pull out of your bag of tricks to make sure what would have been a horrible day, turns out to be one of the best she's ever had." Everything he had done today was above and beyond and she was more grateful than he would ever know.

A flush spread from his neck to his ears and he looked away. "Didn't plan anything. I bought her a pole so you could take her fishin'. I ain't got any tricks."

She watched her daughter for a while, trying to figure out how to word what she had to say next. "She's been through a lot," she said, hesitantly.

He nodded, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

She swallowed hard. "I know that to you, she's just a kid that happened to stumble into your path. The last few weeks have been fun for all of us, but..."

He chewed his lip as she tried to think of how to say what needed to be said but he didn't give her a chance. "You've been through a lot yourself," he said, his voice low and gruff. "So have I if truth be told. You wanna make sure I know that if I disappear, it'd hurt her. I already know that. I ain't got any plans of goin' anywhere, if that _is_ what you're worried about. I wouldn't do that to the kid and I wouldn't do it to you, either."

She swallowed down the lump in her throat. "Because you'd starve?"

He met her eyes then. "Yeah."

She smiled and bumped his shoulder with hers. "Thank you for today."

He shrugged.

"You're really cute when you blush like that," she pressed.

He shook his head, hopped down from the table and grabbed her hand, pulling her until she was standing in front of him, so close they were almost touching. Her breath came out in a rush, warmth flooding her and a thrill caused her stomach to do that now familiar flutter thing that made her want to grin. The look he was giving her only made it worse. He leaned in a little closer and she licked her lips. She wanted to close the distance. She wanted to know what his lips would taste like, how they'd feel moving over hers. The look in his eyes grew more intense and then the hand still holding hers shifted until their fingers were entwined.

"Finally!"

Just like that the spell was broken, he dropped her hand and took a step back. Sophia was standing a few feet away, a smile ready to split her face in half. He met Carol's eyes once but then looked back down at the girl.

"Well kiss her already!" Sophia nearly shouted, hands on her hips.

Daryl looked as though he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole but he saved face by grabbing Sophia, tossing her over his shoulder. "Shut up, kid," he grumbled as Sophia squealed with laughter. He headed towards the truck so Carol followed, her heart still beating out an excited rhythm.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hope you all had a good weekend! Thanks a million times over for the love! You guys are awesome =)**

 **Chapter Eight**

Daryl asked himself over and over what the hell he was getting himself into but he didn't have an answer. The girl looked smug, Carol looked... well, he didn't even have the right words. She'd wanted him to kiss her and he knew it and he would have if the kid hadn't started cheering him on.

"What's this?" Carol asked as they pulled into the gravel lot in front of a huge steal building.

He looked over and then glanced into the back seat where Sophia was looking curiously out the window. "It's work," he said simply.

Carol's brows went up. "This is where you work?"

He nodded. "Sometimes. If I ain't here then I'm in the garage at home. I can get the job done either place." He hopped out of the truck and pulled Sophia from the back, sitting her down in front of him and giving her a small shove towards the double doors.

"And what are we doing here?" Carol asked, looking more impressed than he had expected her to.

"I wanted to see it," Sophia said, yanking the door open excitedly.

Daryl shrugged. "She wanted to see it," he repeated, ushering them inside the cool interior. Tara, the girl that kept the place going as far as the paperwork went, grinned at him from behind the counter. He groaned inwardly, knowing that she'd have a lot of questions for him the next time he popped in. Right now she was smart enough to keep her mouth shut as far as he was concerned. Her eyes went Sophia, who was looking around, curiously.

"Let me guess," Tara said, addressing the kid, "You're here because you're needing someone to fix your motorcycle?"

Sophia smiled slightly and then leaned against his legs, making him groan again. This was going to be a mess.

"I'm not old enough to have one yet, but when I'm bigger we can talk about it," Sophia said wisely, still half hiding behind him, the hem of his shirt fisted in her hand.

Tara grinned, clearly delighted that the girl had a bit of wit to her, even if she was on the shy side. He found it a little funny that from the very first time he had laid eyes on her, she had never been shy around him in the least.

Tara looked from Sophia to Carol and then she stuck out her hand from over the counter. "I'm Tara." She jerked a thumb at Daryl. "I'm the reason this guy isn't bankrupt and living in the slums at the moment."

Carol smiled, shook Tara's hand but then looked up at him with a frown. "How does she keep you from going bankrupt?"

He shrugged and was about to drag them both towards the back but Tara spoke up again. He should have used the back doors.

"Because he is horrible with keeping books, keeping appointments, making sure the place has what it needs on a daily basis," Tara explained. "That's my job."

Carol looked confused. "You're some kind of boss around here?" She looked even more impressed than she looked when they had first pulled up.

Tara laughed. "Boss? No. He sucks at that part too so he hired someone else to take over the bossing. He owns the place." She looked up at Daryl. "You are so tragically introverted, Dixon. You could have told your date that you owned your own garage. She would be a lot more impressed by that than your seriously lacking sense of humor and your bad manners."

"I hate you," he grumbled as he finally got Carol moving towards the doors.

"If that were true you wouldn't pay me as well as you do, asshole," Tara grinned.

Once he had them on the other side of the door, where the big stuff got done, Carol rounded on him. "You own your own garage?" she asked, wide eyed.

He nodded. "My granddad left me and my brother the house but left my old man this place, I guess hoping it would straighten him out. He was wrong, though. My dad ruined it for the most part. When he died that left me and my brother to pick up the pieces and at least try to make it right. Merle, he's a help but he's not exactly responsible. I bought him out and now it belongs to me."

She stared around the spacious room where about five guys were busy at their own stations. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged. "Would it have mattered?"

She met his eyes and smiled. "Not really. Is there anymore surprises up your sleeve?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

The smile turned a little sultry. "We'll see."

He held her gaze for a few long moments, his heart beating a little faster than it should have been but, once again, Sophia demanded their attention, wanting to know everything about anything her eyes landed on. He thought it was a little strange for her to be this fascinated by something that most little girls wouldn't have batted an eye at, but he didn't mind showing her around. She surprised him and Carol both when she was able to point out some of the tools on the rack. Just a few he had shown her when he had fixed the dishwasher at their house, but still, he was proud of her for remembering.

If someone would have told him that he would actually enjoy himself if he spent the day with a four year old and her mother then he would have scoffed, but it was true. He did like spending time with them, so much so that they didn't pull into Carol's driveway until well after nine O'clock. They had caught dinner at a pizza place once they realized it was a lot later than they had expected it to be.

He turned off the truck and leaned his head against the seat for a few beats before looking over at Carol. She was gazing out the window towards his own house. He tapped the back of her hand with his finger after a few long moments.

She looked over and smiled. "You've gotten a lot done at your place since your brother went to jail."

He looked past her at the moonlit house. It wasn't anything fancy; just a two story craftsman. It was a lot different than her little bungalow, but until recently her house had been a lot nicer. "There's an apartment in the back of the shop. I spent a lot of time there before Merle got busted. I figured since he was gone that it was time to fix that old place up again."

"Looks really great," she yawned.

He fought a smile and hopped out of the truck. When he went to help Sophia down he found her fast asleep, her head resting on the side of her seat.

"You want to carry her in? I'll get the door," Carol said when she saw that the girl was asleep.

He nodded and somehow managed to get her out of the seat without waking her up, though she did mumble incoherently, her small arms winding around his neck. He was hit with an intense feeling of normalcy and something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on. This was what it was like for most men his age. Pulling into the driveway after an exhausting day out with his family. The reassuring feeling of knowing that the child in his arms was safe, a wife that he couldn't keep his damn eyes off of...

He had never wanted that life; had never put much thought into it at all. He had it made. He was financially stable, he was able to come and go as he pleased, he had no one to answer to at the end of the day. He didn't even like kids!

He shook all these thoughts from his mind and followed Carol through the house and down the hall. When he put Sophia to bed he stepped back and waited on Carol to take off her shoes and pull up the covers. His eyes went to the framed drawing that sat on her night table and he looked away quickly. It was strange how important it was to the girl, just like the charm she wore every day. The one that her mom was placing carefully on the table in front of the picture.

He was backing out of the room when she turned, grinning at him.

"You look like you're trying to escape," she whispered.

He followed her out. Was he? He had known them for less than a month and somehow his head was all mixed up and he was thinking all kinds of crazy shit and it was more than a little disconcerting. He shook his head, hesitating between the couch and the door, feeling something akin to panic in his chest, but also intrigue, which he tried hard to squash. Because this has been a good fucking day. From the moment he pulled up until right now, probably one of the best of his life and it was because of her and the girl and he was about to freak out.

"Thank you for today," she said, somehow knowing not to get too close at the moment. "I think it was probably the most fun I've had in longer than I can remember."

He nodded. "No problem. Wasn't too bad for me either."

"Why do you look so nervous?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, her eyes glinting mischievously. "You've been with us since this morning."

He shrugged. "I ain't nervous." And it was true. Confused, sure, but he wasn't nervous. As a matter of fact, at the moment, he felt himself calming down a little. He shouldn't have been because with her standing there like that, looking at him in that way she had, had his mind slipping into a place that was oddly comfortable and that didn't make any goddamn sense.

"Do you want a drink or something?" she asked, gesturing towards the kitchen.

He shook his head, even though he really wanted to stay a little longer. "I probably ought to go. I drove all night to get here in time and I've been runnin' with you two all day. I'm beat." That might have sounded like an excuse but it really wasn't. He was dead tired.

She looked disappointed and he silently marked that as a score. She wanted him there but if he stayed then he probably wouldn't go home at all. She wanted him and he knew it, had known it for weeks now, and even though he wanted her too, it wasn't happening tonight. "I guess this is goodnight then," she said, heading past him to show him out.

"I'll be around tomorrow," he said, hesitating with his hand on the doorknob.

She grinned at that. "I was banking on it."

He shook his head and turned the knob but he was still facing the room, facing her. He didn't make a move to actually open the door. He didn't want to open the door, even though he knew that he needed to. He was in way over his head and it was only going to complicate things more if he did anything rash.

At the same moment that thought went through his mind, his hand slipped off the doorknob and was suddenly gripping hers, pulling her closer. His other hand snaked around the back of her neck and without a moments hesitation his mouth was on hers. Her fingers dug into his sides and her lips came alive under his as she kissed him back. She pressed against him tighter, trapping him between her body and the door but he didn't think she was close enough.

He felt her hands fumbled with the hem of his shirt before slipping inside, gliding up his stomach and causing the muscles there to jerk. He wanted to take the fucking thing off but there was still a small voice in his head telling him that things didn't need to get out of hand, even as his tongue slid languidly against hers. Everything about her was warm, inviting, leaving him needing more. The small contented sound she made in the back of her throat, the way she molded herself to him, barely giving her hands enough freedom to map out his chest.

He gripped her hips hard, hauling her closer, then slid his hands around to the soft curve of her ass, which he had been secretly dreaming about getting his hands on for weeks. She smiled against his lips and she removed her hands from inside his shirt. When she broke the kiss she was breathing heavily, so was he.

"As much as I hate to say it, you should probably go," she whispered.

He nodded, knowing that it was the smart thing to do but hating it all the same. "Yeah, I should."

She kissed him once more, just her lips, soft and pliable against his before she pulled back again. Somehow this kiss had the same effect on him as the first just because it seemed so natural. "Breakfast?" she asked.

He nodded, and dropped his hands, letting her take a step back. "Sounds good."

"Bye," she beamed.

He flashed her a grin of his own and then slipped out because if he didn't do it now he knew it wouldn't take much to talk her into letting him stay, and then talk his way into her bed. He waited until he heard the deadbolt click into place and then launched himself over the railing, feeling goddamn good about everything as he walked to his own house, leaving his truck in her driveway.


	9. Chapter 9

**So glad that you're still on board with this marshmallow of a story! It seems like every time I think you guys won't really like something is when you like it the most. I'm a crappy judge of readers. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks again for reading =)**

 **Chapter Nine**

Carol hit the snooze button several times before she finally hauled herself out of bed. She hadn't slept much the night before, her mind running the days events over and over, refusing to turn off long enough for her to fall asleep. It had been a really good day. One of the best she'd had in a long time but it was the events from last night that popped into her mind as soon as her feet hit the floor.

She felt heat rising in her face and a smile on her lips even as she was rubbing her eyes. She felt like a teenager again.

She dressed in a hurry, knowing that Daryl would be there soon expecting food since she'd invited him over before he had left the night before. She still had to get Sophia up, even though there wasn't school today. She had talked to Andrea earlier in the week and since she had been expecting yesterday to be a bad one for Sophia she had devised a plan with Andrea for a girls day out. It wasn't really needed now but she hadn't even thought to call the other woman and cancel their plans. Besides, Sophia loved Andrea so even if they didn't do much, it would still be good to have her visit.

Sophia dressed herself as Carol went to the kitchen to start the coffee pot. She was getting the cups down when a tap on her shoulder startled her, almost causing her to drop a mug right onto her bare foot. She spun around and was greeted with the site of Andrea's wide pale eyes staring at her.

"Where is he?" Andrea asked in a near whisper and then she grinned.

Carol frowned. "Where is who?" She had barely mentioned Daryl to the other woman so she had no idea why she would be asking about him.

Andrea blew out a breath and gave her a look that let Carol know that she wasn't in a mood for games. "I'm just assuming that you haven't purchased a big muddy four wheel drive since the last time we talked, which was two days ago, by the way. So it has to belong to a man."

Carol felt her brow smooth out and she waved her friend away. "That's the neighbors truck and he isn't here."

"You're hiding him. Why else would his truck be here and not at his own house."

Carol was saved when Sophia rushed into the kitchen. "That's Daryl's truck. Yesterday he took us all over the place. We went fishing, we ate ice cream for lunch, we got to look at all the bikes at his work, we went to the park and then it was so late when we came home he prolly just left his truck here and walked."

Andrea's eyes widened and she glanced at Carol who groaned.

"Why are you here so early, anyway?" she asked.

Andrea sat down at the table and shrugged. "I thought we had plans."

Carol nodded. "We did but I thought we weren't meeting up until later."

Another shrug. "Maybe I happened to pass by on my way to town and spotted a truck in your driveway so I used my key to break in and find out what I was missing."

Carol smiled. "I knew giving you a key was a bad idea."

"So, you went on a date yesterday?" Andrea pressed.

Sophia laughed as she climbed up into her chair.

"It wasn't a date," Carol said, remembering the kiss.

Sophia was grinning. "He was about to kiss her yesterday."

Andrea and Carol both looked over at the girl but before Carol could say a word Andrea jumped all over this news. "Oh really?"

Sophia nodded. "Yep."

"And how do you know that?"

Sophia gave Andrea an exasperated look. "Because of how they just kept looking at each other like people do on TV and you could just tell. But it didn't happen." She sounded disappointed.

Carol cleared her throat. "So you really just came over to nib?"

Andrea nodded solemnly. "I really did. And now that I know what's going on, I think it'd be a good idea to cancel our plans for today. I think I should take the rugrat with me, do everything we were planning to do in the first place, and then she can sleep over. Movies, pizza, popcorn, too much soda. What do you say Soph?"

Sophia looked between them and then her face broke out in a huge grin. "I'll go pack my sleepover bag." She slid down and took off out of the kitchen.

Andrea looked smug. "Now, you can have a real date. I want details."

Carol waved her away. "He's just a neighbor." She was lying. He was much more than that but she wasn't going to listen to Andrea ask questions she wasn't ready to answer.

That was the moment the neighbor in question decided to come right in through the back door, stepping into the kitchen. His eyes locked onto hers for a second before the corner of his mouth twitched. She could already see the flush creeping up his neck. She realized then that she was trying to hide a smile of her own and she had completely forgotten that they weren't alone in the room. Andrea cleared her throat loudly and Daryl jumped in surprise. Carol couldn't believe he hadn't noticed the woman sitting right across from her at the table. It gave her a strange feeling in her chest.

When his eyes slid to Andrea the look in his eyes turned guarded.

"Hello, neighbor," Andrea grinned, resting her chin on her fist.

Carol stood up then, grasping for anything to relieve the tension. "Daryl, this is Andrea. I've mentioned her, remember?"

He glanced at Carol and then gave Andrea a stiff nod. It was so clear that he wasn't comfortable in the other woman's presence and for the life of her she couldn't think of a reason why. He hadn't been the most approachable person in the world when she had first seen him but he was great after she had gotten to know him.

"I haven't even started cooking anything," she said, pushing the chair under the table just to have something to do with her hands.

He shrugged, looking like he was about to bolt for the door. Sophia flew around the corner and Carol noted the relief in his eyes, like she was possibly some sort of buffer he could use to keep his distance from the stranger in the room. Sophia wasted no time at all launching herself at him and he picked her up quickly, sure enough, putting the girl between himself and Andrea, who was watching with wide eyes.

"I'm leaving!" Sophia said, worry lacing her words. It was obvious that the prospect of an adventure with Andrea had momentarily taken her mind off of Daryl, which was a small miracle in itself.

"Leavin', huh?" he asked, sounding intrigued. "Movin' out?"

Sophia laughed, shaking her head. "I'm not old enough for that yet. I'm leaving with aunt Andrea today and staying the whole night. I think you and my mom will be okay without me. You think?"

He sighed. "I don't know. She's so boring and all."

The laughter from Sophia had even Andrea smiling. Carol's heart felt like it swelled to twice it's size at the sound. "She is not." Sophia turned in his arms to grin at Carol. "You know he's kidding, mom. He thinks you're great."

Does he now?" Carol quirked an eyebrow as Daryl rolled his eyes.

"Yep. You gonna miss me?" She asked Daryl, her small features growing serious.

He met the girls eyes and nodded. "You know it, kid."

This earned him a grin and then she hugged him hard. He didn't look like he wanted to put her down but she squirmed until he sat her back on her feet. Now he looked uncomfortable again and for once in her life Carol wished Andrea would just leave. She loved her friend but it was clear that Daryl wasn't comfortable and Carol didn't blame him. Andrea was studying him like he was a bug under a magnifying glass.

"I'm gonna take off," he said suddenly. "Just stopped by to tell you that I got a call this mornin' and have to go to the shop. One of my guys woke up with the flu and he's on a deadline."

Carol frowned. "You should have came over earlier and I would have fixed you something quick."

He snorted. "I'll live, I promise." He shook his head. He looked down at Sophia then. "Have fun kid."

"I will. Will you be here when I get home tomorrow?"

He glanced at Andrea quickly but then focused his attention back on the girl. "I'll try."

Sophia seemed pacified at this and hurried off to get the coloring books she had forgotten to pack. Daryl met Carol's eyes then, holding her gaze for a few long moments before shifting on his feet.

"You can stop by the shop later on if you want. Bring lunch or somethin'."

She smiled at that but he didn't give her time to reply. He was out the door and leaping over the banister, which he was in the habit of doing often.

"That is not just a neighbor, Carol! Why would you lie to me about a boyfriend!"

Carol gaped. "He isn't! He's just a friend and he's been helping me out with Sophia. That's all."

"I've known you forever and I've been around that girl since she was born and she has never been like that with a man!"

"He's a very good person and he spends time with us when she has a hard time with-"

"You've slept with him!"

"I have not!" Carol hissed, glancing towards the door.

"You're going to," Andrea beamed. "Finally! You're gonna get laid!"

"Would you hush your mouth! We kissed one time! That doesn't mean I'm planning out vows for Christ's sake!"

Andrea was beaming. "He's hot."

"You're ridiculous!" Carol turned and busied herself, pulling out the ingredients for omelets.

~H~

Daryl took his discarded shirt and swiped the sweat away from his forehead before it could drip into his eyes. His hair was soaked with it and it was only getting hotter in the garage. He had all of the roll up doors open but there wasn't a breeze to find its way into the back of the shop where he was working.

He sat back on his haunches and reached for the bottle of water he knew was somewhere behind him. What his hand gripped sure as hell wasn't a bottle but what felt more like an ankle. He turned his head so sharply that he winced as a flash of pain tore through his neck.

Carol was grinning down at him and waved. He let go of her ankle, even though what he wanted to do was keep his hand right where it was, maybe slide it up further. He stood up quickly, pushing his sweat soaked hair off his forehead and then glanced at the clock on the wall.

"You're early," he said, noting that it was only eleven. He hadn't been expecting her until after noon.

Her gaze slid down to his mouth before raising to meet his eyes. "You're the boss so I thought you might allow yourself an early break. You are a complete mess," she grinned, eying his sweat and grease streaked torso.

He snorted. "What did you expect? Suit and tie?"

She beamed up at him. "You know, I don't think I would recognize you in a suit and tie."

"Well, good thing you won't have to worry about it. I ain't never put on a tie in my life." He reached past her and snatched the plastic bag from the bench. "What'd you bring?" he asked, peeking into the bag and then leading her to the office.

"Cold cuts and pasta salad, chips. Anything cold I could grab. As hot as it's gotten today I didn't think you'd want a hot meal," she said, her eyes roaming over the deep wood paneled walls. He hadn't shown them this part of the shop when he had brought them here yesterday. This was the boring part but at least it had air conditioning.

Against the wall beside the door was an industrial looking sofa and across from that was the desk he rarely ever used. He had a guy that handled that part of the job because he flat out sucked at it. He reached into the bag and started pulling out the goods. She'd packed plates, plastic spoons, a thermos of something, containers of sides and plastic wrapped sandwiches. He chuckled and shook his head.

"What?" she asked, hopping up onto the desk, her legs swinging back and forth.

He glanced up, meeting her eyes. "You're the most domesticated woman I've ever met in my life."

She blushed and looked away, watching her own feet swinging. "To tell you the truth, it's kind of nice being able to do this kind of thing for you. You've done a lot for us, even if you want to act like you haven't."

Now it was his turn to look away, busying himself with the food while she sat there, still looking down. He was having a hard time looking at her anyway because he couldn't keep his eyes from straying to her mouth and every time he did that he remembered the feel of them, the taste, and he'd have to force himself not to do it again. He wasn't sure where they stood now. He didn't know what she wanted and since there was a kid involved the stakes were a lot higher.

"I had fun yesterday," she said, finally looking up as he planted his ass on the sofa across from her, shoveling food into his mouth to keep himself busy. She raised her brows at him and fought a smile.

He nodded. "Me too," he muttered around the bite he'd just taken. This earned him a laugh but after that they ate in silence. He wasn't sure what to say to her and it seemed like she had something on her mind but wasn't sure how to spit it out.

When they were repacking the bag he felt the tension amp up a bit and finally she took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly. "If we do something to mess this up it's gonna break her heart," she said, keeping her eyes trained on a spot on the desk. She finally looked up and he could tell she was having a hard time saying any of this. "And it'd break mine too."

He didn't know what the hell to say to that. He already knew that he was getting into something that he wouldn't be able to walk away from. He wasn't good at all this sharing shit but he had to at least say something. "I don't like kids." The words were out of his mouth before he could really think about them and the stricken look on her face had him faltering.

"Oh," she said, her tone sounding so defeated that it stirred up something bitter in his chest.

He shook his head. "But I like her. She kinda makes it hard not too. She's goddamn demanding when she sets her sights on somethin'."

She smiled, relief clear on her face, and looked away.

"Look, I ain't got it in me to hurt either one of you. If I thought I could then I sure as hell woulda made some sort of effort to keep the hell away from the both of you. But I can't do it. If I'd been able to get either of you out of my head I wouldn't even be home from that trip yet but I couldn't. So if you're worried about that then you can stop. I ain't goin' anywhere till you make me."

She looked up and he noticed that her eyes were misty, her mouth soft and for a second he thought that maybe he had somehow said the wrong thing. "This is scary. If it was just me then-"

He nodded, knowing what she was trying to say and even though it stung, he had expected it. It was too much for her and he understood. He wasn't the lucky in love type, he supposed and something like this, whatever the hell he was feeling, was too damn good to be true. "I get it. I don't blame you."

She frowned. "I don't think you do get it."

"Put the breaks on before it's started, right? If that's what you need to do then thats- Oomph." He wasn't able to finish the sentence because her mouth was on his. He didn't even have time to kiss her back properly before she pulled away.

"When will you be finished here?" she asked, her hands lingering on his shoulders.

He frowned. "Won't be for a while. Probably late."

"Come over when you're finished and we'll talk then, okay?"

He nodded and watched her gather up their trash. He walked her all the way out to the car. "Thanks for lunch."

She grinned as she slid into the drivers seat. He shut the door, both hands braced on the hood as he peered in at her.

"What if you're in bed by the time I get done?" he asked as she started the car.

"I won't be." There was a look in her eyes he hadn't seen before and it had him wishing like hell his guy hadn't called in sick.


	10. Chapter 10

**It's a rainy morning and we needed it bad and so far it hasn't knocked out my internet so that makes it even better. Hope the rest of you stay dry and have a safe day! I'm off to bed! Thanks for reading! =)**

 **Chapter Ten**

Carol glanced at the clock and felt her pulse pound a little bit harder when she realized that it was after ten. He had told her that he would be late but she hadn't expected him to be this late. She couldn't stop herself from wondering if maybe he had realized that it was all too much. She hadn't wanted to lay it out there like that but he needed to know the truth and the truth was, she was terrified of her and Sophia getting hurt.

And the truth was, she was falling for him hard and she knew that her daughter loved him and she couldn't force herself to not be afroad for the both of them. She never thought that she would ever trust a man again, knew how dangerous it was for her to trust this one after such a short amount of time, and now she was nearly sick with anxiety. She had to keep reminding herself that he had looked very sincere when he had explained to her his intentions. He had seemed to be telling the truth when he had admitted that he hadn't had any plans on going anywhere.

She told herself that whatever happened, she wasn't planning on sleeping with him tonight. That wasn't why she had invited him over. She had invited him over to talk and that was it. The fact that she dug into the very back of her closet, had dove into the Victoria's Secret bag that Andrea had given her for Christmas last year, tore the tags off of the ridiculously expensive bra and pantie set, and was now wearing said gift, had nothing to do with whether or not she was planning on letting Daryl Dixon get a peak at her unmentionables.

All coincidence. Maybe she just hadn't wanted such a thoughtful gift to go to waste. Never mind that she had never bothered wearing any of it until tonight. That had nothing to do with anything at all.

Along with the over the top lingerie she had also decided that it would be a nice day to bring _the_ _dress_ out of the back of the closet. The very first thing she had bought for herself after her divorce was final. She had bought it and then had never had the nerve to wear it. She wasn't even sure why she had never worn it. It wasn't too short, hitting a few inches above her knees. It wasn't exactly provocative in any way at all. Maybe it was just because she had spotted it the very first time while she was out shopping with her then husband. He had seen her eying it and had laughed, explaining to her why a dress like that would never work on her. For one, she was too fat, too plain, too pale for the color to work. He went on and on until she had shuffled off, slump shouldered and nearly in tears and never gave the thing another thought until she was finally free of the hateful bastard.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled, almost triumphantly. The thin material hugged her waist and the color went just fine with her light complexion, thank you very much. She felt good. She felt like she looked good. She also felt like a complete fool for trying so hard just for Daryl to stand her up. Not that he had, not really. He said he would stop by but that didn't mean they had concrete plans to do anything. He was probably too tired since he had worked a lot of hours in the horrible heat. That was likely why he wasn't coming. It had nothing to do with second thoughts or the fact that he just didn't really like her and hadn't been able to let her down easily.

At ten fifteen she headed to the door, intending to lock up for the night, muttering a complaint about allergies since her eyes were stinging and it definitely wasn't tears over her mild disappointment or certainty of rejection. She wasn't pathetic.

She went to the door, turned off the porch light and was just about to turn the deadbolt when she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a loud knock. She threw the door open, her chest heaving and her eyes wide. She realized a second later that anyone could have been at the door and she was lucky that it was Daryl standing there staring at her and not some chainsaw murderer. She opened the door wider, trying to calm herself as he stepped past her.

He eyed her, his gaze raking over her from head to toe and then back up again. His hair was damp and his clothes were clean and she realized that he had likely went home to clean up before coming here.

"Were we suppose to go somewhere?" he asked once his eyes finally found hers.

She looked down at herself and flushed deeply, trying and failing, to come up with a reason that she would have dressed up just because he was coming over. She was talking before she could even think about the words. "I've had this thing since my divorce and it's the first time I've ever put it on. Ed said I'd look horrible in it so when the divorce was finalized I went right out and bought it and then never got up the nerve to wear it for some reason." She was rambling and he was staring at her with his brows raised. She closed her mouth.

Daryl just shrugged once she grew quiet. "His loss."

She blew out a nervous breath. He had never made her nervous before, not even when she first met him, but she was nervous now. So nervous, in fact, that her hands were actually shaking and her mind was drawing a blank. She had no idea what to say to him, felt more than a little ridiculous and realized with a start that she was afraid. And it had nothing to do with him deciding he didn't want to figure out where this was going. It was something else altogether.

This realization was surprising. There wasn't anything to be afraid of here. But she had felt the same way about her ex husband all those years ago and it turned out that she wasn't the greatest judge of character. He had to have seen something change in her face because he frowned, the look on his face a mixture of concern and confusion and she felt so angry with herself.

"You know, I can just come back tomorrow or somethin'. Since it's so late and all," he offered.

It made no sense for her to feel like this now. It wasn't fair that she felt like this now! It meant that she wasn't over the life that she had fought to free herself from and it wasn't fair. She finally shook her head firmly. "No, I don't want you to come back tomorrow."

His brows pulled together but he nodded quickly. "Okay then. So does that mean I need to stay away or..."

She scowled. "What? No! I meant that I don't want you to leave right now!" Her nerves were so frazzled she wasn't sure what to do at all.

He ran a hand through his hair, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

"I don't know what the hell is wrong with me!"

"The kid ain't here," he said simply.

She stared. "What are you talking about."

He glanced around. "Me and you ain't never really had to deal with just me and you. She's always around. A buffer or a distraction or some shit like that. Now you don't know what the hell to do with yourself cause it's just me and you."

She snorted but his mild explanation made sense to her. "So the only common ground that you and I have is Sophia and without her I turn into a complete basket case?"

He smiled at that. "No, she ain't the only common ground we have but we're used to her being around. Now she ain't. So what the hell do you want to do? As much fun as I'm havin', I don't wanna spend the rest of the night standing here in your living room while your nervous ass rambles on about stuff."

Just like that she felt herself start to relax, her momentary panic tampered down by his eagerness to get a laugh out of her. "You want a drink? I never drink when Sophia is home but, I think I could really use one at the moment."

"Is it fruity? Cause I can't stomach that fruity shit," he said, following her into the kitchen.

She gave him a steely look from over her shoulder and caught him staring at her ass. She didn't comment on it. It felt good to be looked at the way he was looking at her. "You underestimate me. I have never cared for frills when it comes to my alcohol."

She heard him chuckle, the sound causing a shiver to run down her spine. Without a word she dragged one of the kitchen chairs over to the pantry and climbed up. On the very top shelf pushed to the very back, was a fifth of whiskey and she grabbed it quickly, looking down at him with a triumphant grin on her face.

One eyebrow shot up and he whistled low. "Gentleman Jack, huh? I knew you were one of them classy broads." He offered her his hand and she took it, stepping down and letting him slide the chair back where it belonged while she grabbed two glasses. Silently she mixed a drink for them, more alcohol than coke but having something else in it made her feel better about drinking anyway.

She led him back to the living room and sat down on the couch. "Here's how this is going to go. We're gonna drink these drinks, have a nice long adult conversation, and I'm not going to freak out on you again."

He nodded, taking a long drink from the glass and then eying it in surprise. "You tryin' to get me drunk first?"

"Tell me about your brother," she said suddenly and noted that he seemed to tense.

He stared at her for a few long moments but she didn't look away. She wanted to know more about him and his family, his past and what his plans for the future may be, because earlier she was sure that they had made the decision to see where this could go and she couldn't actually do that until she knew him.

~H~

He finished the drink quickly after that, regarding the empty glass thoughtfully before getting up and fixing himself another without even asking her. He knew what this was. She wanted to know what the fuck she was getting herself into and he had a feeling that once he started talking, she wasn't going to see the same man that she had seen before. He did what he could but his family had a reputation and he couldn't run from it. Couldn't distance himself from it. Not really.

His second drink was straight, nothing but ice and alcohol but she didn't comment on it. Simply waited him out, sipping her own drink. "Merle is always in some sort of trouble. Always has been," he said, unease causing him to take another long drink. "Drugs mostly but that ain't all he's been locked up for over the years. Seems like if there's somethin' bad goin' on, Merle won't hesitate to stick himself right in the middle of it."

"Is he dangerous?" she asked, her voice even.

Daryl nodded and then smiled grimly. "He is to some I guess. It wouldn't be anything you'd have to worry about. He ain't like that." He risked a glance at her but she was studying her glass, her finger running over the rim of it.

"Ed, my ex husband, he was trouble too but not like your brother." Now it was her turn to look up and offer a grim smile of her own. "He was okay at first but as soon as we were married, everything kind of went to hell."

He met her stare and could read what she meant in her eyes and he understood why she'd been nervous earlier. Why maybe she needed the drink to soothe her nerves. She had told him this before but now she was repeating it because it meant something different for him to know. If her husband was okay at first, who was to say Daryl wouldn't end up turning into an ass after a while? She couldn't know that. "Went to hell how?" he asked, glad that this conversation was steering away from him.

"It started out slow. He wanted to control everything I did. He told me who I could talk too, where I could go, how long I could be there. Then he got a little meaner with his words, belittling, always complaining about how I looked, my clothes, clothes he'd make me wear. It just got worse from there." Now it was her turn to take a longer drink of some liquid courage. "I can't... No," she shook her head, "I won't let myself be treated like that again."

"How'd you get out?" he asked, keeping a lid on his own anger. It wasn't easy because the thought of somebody hurting her had him wanting to punch something.

She shrugged. "Sophia. I didn't want her to grow up thinking it was okay to be treated that way. I didn't want to wake up one day and realize that she was next. I had to get out. It wasn't easy by any means and he fought me. He got in touch with me shortly before he was killed, telling me that he had made a mistake and that he wanted his rights to Sophia back. By then I had already legally had her last name changed to my maiden name and he was nothing to either of us. I don't feel guilty for being glad that he was killed. Burglary gone wrong is what the police told me."

"No other family?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I got back in touch with Andrea. She was my oldest friend but I hadn't contacted her since I had married Ed. He hated her. But she helped. Sophia and I lived with her until I found this place and the rest is history."

"I think you did pretty good for yourself," he said, picking at a loose thread on his jeans.

"I think you did too. You own your own business so it's kind of obvious that whatever your brother's vices may be, hasn't effected you."

He grunted. "Ain't always been that way."

They both grew quiet after that, not the heavy awkward kind. It was clear that both of them were lost in thought. He had drained his second glass and was feeling a hell of a lot more relaxed now. He was glad she hadn't asked him much more about his brother.

"Why aren't you married?" she asked, yanking him from his thoughts.

He scowled for a second and then his eyes strayed to her legs. The skirt had ridden up a little, showing more thigh than he was used to seeing. "Never had time for no kind of shit like that. Can't seem to get along with many people and women, for the most part, get on my goddamn nerves."

She laughed then, the sound almost musical but he couldn't look away from her legs. She shifted slightly, the light catching a shiny scar on her inner thigh. "Do I get on your nerves?" she asked, almost playfully.

He shook his head and before he knew what was happening his hand reached out, his fingers brushing the scar that disappeared under the skirt. Slowly his eyes raised up, meeting hers.

"Parting gift," she whispered.

It was then that he realized that what she'd endured at the hands of her husband was a lot worse than he thought. His finger followed the raised line but his eyes were locked on hers. The alcohol he'd consumed hadn't been enough to get him drunk but it was enough to give him a little more courage than he'd normally have when it came to this woman. "No fuckin' wonder you get skittish with me," he muttered.

Her hand covered his, stopping him from moving up another inch and he realized that she probably thought he was just trying to sneak a feel or something. Before he could pull his hand away she stood up and pulled him from the couch. She didn't let go when she turned and started leading him down the hall towards her bedroom. And he sure as hell wasn't going to act like he didn't want to follow.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello! Not too sure if this turned out the way I wanted or not. Hopefully you enjoy it regardless of how I feel about it! Thanks for reading!**

 **Chapter Eleven**

She closed the bedroom door behind them, her heart thumping so hard in her chest she was sure he would hear it. She was gripped by another bout of irrational fear and she knew that he had been right earlier. This had nothing to do with anything other than the two of them. It was him and her with no distractions, nothing to distract them from the fact that there was a measure of sexual tension surrounding them. It had been very easy to ignore when there was a four year old around but now it was only them.

She wanted him. There was no question about that at all. Her body had reacted to him from the very moment she had taken notice of him out there in his back yard, but that didn't alleviate the stress that this caused her mentally.

In her mind, being with a man was instantly associated with humiliation, pain and a sick feeling of inadequacy. She had grown over the years, become a better and stronger woman, but she hadn't been in a situation like this since leaving Ed and she had no practice at calming herself when those old insecurities reared their ugly heads and caused her to panic and falter.

It was why she had put on the dress. She had wanted to come face to face with his reaction to it, to her. She wanted to know if he would see what Ed had seen. And he hadn't. Not at all.

"You're shakin'," he said, watching her carefully from his position in front of the door. He was leaning against it now, his hand on the knob, like he needed to stay close to the exit.

"I'm scared to death and I'm not even sure why," she said, her voice tremulous. She tried to laugh but the sound was nervous and strained.

"I didn't come here to try to get in your pants. I'm not a total asshole."

She nodded. "I know."

"You want me to go?" He asked, clearly unsure what the hell to do since she was definitely giving him some mixed signals here. "I won't get pissed off or anything."

She shook her head. "Would you rather go?" Maybe he didn't want this. Maybe she was way out of line even bringing him in here.

He shook his head slightly.

"I'm a mess," she muttered. "And to think, I went to the trouble of shaving for this." She sounded almost annoyed.

He barked out a laugh then that startled her but then she laughed herself, shaking her head. With a weary sigh he stepped away from the door, his hand coming up, cupping her jaw, and then his lips were on hers. It was a chaste kiss, just a subtle pressure and warmth but it still had an intense effect on her. When he pulled away he dropped his hand. "I'm gonna go ahead and take off. I'll-"

She didn't let him finish because she couldn't stand the thought of him leaving. She hadn't been aware of these hang ups but she was determined to get past them. She couldn't have a relationship with him if she didn't at least try. It wasn't about sex at this point. It was simply about being with him without being afraid. So she kissed him instead of letting him walk out the door, leaving both of them with questions and regrets. This kiss was different, desperate, and he reacted to it with zeal. His arms went around her, hauling her closer but other than that he let her lead. She caught his bottom lip between her teeth and pulled lightly.

"Tryin' to convince me to stay?" he asked, his voice husky and almost smug.

She nodded, her fingers going to work on the buttons of his shirt, her mouth going to the side of his neck. His pulse jumped under her lips and she smiled to herself. This was all her doing. A sudden image flashed through her mind. The day she had seen him busting up that concrete in his yard, sweaty, muscles straining. Her fear of what was to come abated as a rush of heat spread through her.

He must have sensed a change in her because his hands moved from her lower back to her ass and he took a step towards the bed just as she started pushing the shirt away from his shoulders. Shoulders that were broad, hard muscled. His lips found hers again as he walked her backwards, kicking his boots off as they went, causing her to stumble slightly.

"You sure about this?" he asked against her lips. She could hear the uncertainty back in his voice now and she hated to think that maybe the way she had acted had effected him, causing him to have questions of his own.

She stepped back, pulling away from him suddenly. He opened his mouth like he was about to apologize but she reached back, unzipping the dress quickly. It hit the floor in a puddle at her feet and his eyes grew wide.

~H~

The dress hit the floor and he was sure that his jaw followed suit. She reached behind her like she was going to unhook the pink scrap of lace covering her but he grabbed her hands, pulling them away and shook his head slightly.

"Ain't never been one for appreciating the package, really, but that needs to stay on for another minute or two." He didn't even recognize his own voice and at the moment he didn't give a damn.

She looked surprised herself but then she smiled, almost shyly as he looked her over once more. He was having an inner battle because a part of him wanted her out of the lacy garments but another part really did want to appreciate the package. She was blushing and he was almost panting and they stood there like that for another half minute or so before he simply couldn't stand there anymore.

One step brought her flush against him once more but he kept right on coming, lifting her right off the floor, causing her to cry out in surprise but she wrapped her legs around his waist anyway and then laughed until the sound was cut off when his mouth found hers. Her fingers tangled into his hair, gripping harder when he stumbled into the side of the bed and then collapsed right on top of her. He raised up on his arms, taking most of his weight off of her and then she was tearing at his belt. He dipped his head, his mouth trailing down the center of her chest and causing her to squirm.

She had managed to get his belt open and now her quick fingers were undoing the button and even though she was responding the way he had hoped she would, he could still sense an underlying tension in her that was bothering him. The last thing he wanted to do was stop now but he wasn't going to go through with something if she wasn't positive she wanted to do it.

He took a few seconds to muster up the will power to do it but finally he raised his head and managed to grip her hand before she could get it down his pants. He sat up on his knees and looked down at her, trying to breathe a little slower. She was staring at him, eyes wide.

"You don't want to?" she asked breathlessly.

He snorted and then looked down at the obvious proof that yes, he very much wanted to, straining against his pants. She followed his gaze, flushed even more and then bit her lip, waiting for him to explain. It was hard for him to think of any words when she was lying there like that. "You doin' this because you want to or are you doin' this because you know that I do?" he asked.

Her expression cleared somewhat and smiled slightly. "Is it that obvious?"

He nodded. "Might as well have the words _conflicted_ flashing above your head." He kept his voice light because he didn't want her to think that he was mad about it. From what he knew of her marriage he was quick enough to understand that whatever the problem was, it had nothing to do with him.

She looked away, staring up at the ceiling almost angrily. He waited her out, knowing that she was trying to work something out in her head. This was a first for him. He had never cared about a woman as much as he did this one and he didn't know exactly how to not fuck this up. She needed a minute and he'd let her have it.

"Ain't nothing wrong with waitin'," he said after a few long moments.

She looked at him then and sat up quickly, scrambling until she was on her knees in front of him.

He groaned. "But the longer you wiggle around like that, the harder it's gonna be on me so you need to be still."

She shook her head wordlessly and then pulled his face to hers, kissing him hard. He growled into her mouth, a reflexive sound. This wasn't going to be easy at all if she didn't stop this but he didn't try to pull away from her. His arms went around her so he could pull her closer. She reached behind her and unhooked her bra, and he didn't argue. He had told her that they could wait but she seemed determined to battle these demons right now and he was powerless to stop her.

"You sure?" he asked when her lips left his to trail down his jaw.

"Shut up, Daryl," she whispered.

"Okay," he wasn't gonna argue. He didn't say another word at all but he did slide his hand between her legs, running his fingers over the soft lace that covered her.

She shivered against him, her breath hitching as her nails bit into his shoulders and her teeth grazed his earlobe. He was finally damn sick of the underwear now, no matter how goddamn sexy they were. He removed his hand, smirking slightly when she made an annoyed sound. The sound ended abruptly when he started working them down her hips. She moved so he could get them off, tossing them carelessly over his shoulder and his hand went right back, his fingers unhindered as he explored her.

As anxious as she was about all of this, it hadn't seemed to keep her from being turned on despite herself. She was as ready as any woman had any right to be and he had barely even gotten started yet.

~H~

All of that residual anxiety fell away like it had never been there at all and she was so grateful that she could have wept. She wanted this and she had wanted this for a while now so she had been so angry at herself for not being able to open up all the way. She wasn't having that problem anymore. His hands were rough but his touch was light, gentle, almost too much so. The kiss grew almost frantic and she gripped his wrist hard, abandoning the task of getting his own pants down his hips.

She made a desperate sound against his lips but he must have misunderstood because he moved his hand away. She broke the kiss but before she could protest he had one strong arm around her and was moving, forcing her onto her back. She shoved at his stubborn jeans and finally he raised up enough so she could actually get them moving.

"I don't make a habit of jumping into bed with men," she said after breaking another searing kiss. Now he was kicking his pants the rest of the way off.

He raised his head, "I kinda guessed that already. If it makes you feel any better, neither do I."

She laughed at that and then bit her lip when he shifted slightly. He had finally wrestled his pants off and she braced herself for the pain that was sure to come. Sex was another way for Ed to hurt her and she had no other comparisons. It made her wonder briefly why she had been so quick to let this happen. But then his mouth was on hers again, distracting her with a kiss that had her toes curling and then he moved.

There was nothing rough or painful about it at all and her eyes snapped open. She heard his muttered curse against her lips and then he was moving and her body was responding in ways she never knew it could, sensations she thought herself incapable of feeling causing her to mutter his name, almost like a question. The sound caused him to grow still, like he thought maybe she wanted him to stop.

Her legs wound around him then, her heels pressing him deeper, causing him to curse again before his lips found hers. He kept his pace slow, probably because he knew that's what she needed at the moment, and she really did. She didn't want this to end too quickly but with every languid movement he made she could feel her need for more increasing.

She tore her mouth away from his, turning her head to the side and giving him access to her throat. He wasted no time, his teeth grazing her skin. Her nails bit into his back and he growled, picking up the pace. She realized then that he had really been holding back. He hadn't wanted to scare her off but that wasn't going to happen. Every inch of him seemed custom made, her body relenting to his and she felt like a new woman, a woman that didn't have any underlying hang ups. It was liberating and it made this even better. When he raised up, his hand sliding down her thigh and then raising it over his shoulder, she completely lost it. He was moving deeper now, faster, and her body simply wasn't used to that kind of stimulation. Her back arched off the bed, his name tearing out of her mouth. Her blood was on fire and every beat of her pounding heart seemed to heighten her pleasure. She was still riding it out when his rhythm faltered and his forehead dropped to hers.

She was completely stunned that she had actually achieved an orgasm at all. It was the first time in her life that she had managed that feat without doing it on her own. "That was surprisingly good," she breathed, running her hands up the back of his neck and into his hair once she was able to catch her breath.

He raised his head, his eyes narrowing. "You think it'd suck?"

She grinned and let her legs fall open, no longer trapping him between them. He moved out of her but then just settled a little lower, in no hurry to move away. "No I didn't but I definitely hadn't expected that."

He snorted at that. "Tell you the truth, I didn't either. You caught me on a good night I guess."

She couldn't respond because he kissed her then, deep and slow. She could have kissed him like that all night but eventually he pulled away, moving until he was sprawled out next to her. He had somehow managed to get under the blanket, pulling it up to his waist, leaving her the only one exposed. The way his eyes slid over her, however, made her feel like she didn't have to rush to cover up. She liked the way he looked at her. She liked the way he made her feel when his eyes roamed over her like that, like he appreciated what he saw.

She finally worked her way under the blanket, realizing that his body put off a good amount of warmth, and wanting nothing more than to burrow into it. "Do you plan on spending the night?" she asked, her voice hopeful.

He kept his eyes on the ceiling for a moment before turning his head and meeting her eyes. "Unless you plan on kickin' me out."

She smiled and then reached up to turn off the bedside lamp. As soon as her head hit the pillow he grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him and not stopping until she was situated almost on top of him. She laughed but the sound was stifled when his mouth found hers in the dark. He tugged until she was straddling his hips. She pulled away, shocked, when she felt him stir between her legs.

"What?" he asked lightly.

"What are you doing?" she asked and even she could hear the smile in her voice.

"Well, I thought I was initiating round two, but if you need a minute, I'll understand."

She laughed then, rolling her hips over him experimentally. They had a lot to talk about but they had plenty of time for that later. Right now, she needed to let him know that she definitely didn't need a minute. All she needed right now was him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Relieved that I didn't botch the last chapter. Hope you all have a great weekend. Stay safe and thanks for reading! =)**

 **Chapter Twelve**

Daryl was disoriented when he finally woke up. The drapes were pulled tightly over the window but he could see that behind them, the sun was glaring against the glass. The room was in shadow and after a second he remembered why it didn't look familiar. It explained the warm body pressed against his side and why the clock told him that it was five past noon. They hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.

Carol mumbled something and then burrowed further into him until her head was on his chest. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders so he slowly moved his fingertips down her arm. Warm lips pressed against his skin and he looked down just as she raised her head. She squinted at him before stifling a yawn. "Morning," she mumbled, her voice hoarse.

He nodded towards the clock. "Afternoon."

Her eyes widened and she raised up, cursing under breath.

"You late for somethin'?" he asked lazily, wondering if it would do him any good to try to talk her into staying in bed for another hour or two. He was still sleepy enough.

"No but Andrea will be bringing Sophia home in about twenty minutes. I can't believe I slept so late!" she said as she slid out of bed.

He knew this was a big deal and he should be hauling ass but her naked form had him stalling, folding his arms behind his head and watching as she hurriedly went through her closet.

"What are you doing?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

He shrugged. "Takin' a minute to appreciate the view."

She sighed heavily and pulled on a t-shirt. "As much as I have dreamed about hiding a naked you in my bed, I think you should get up now."

"I am up," he grumbled, glancing down.

She laughed at that and then he was hit in the face with his pants. "I mean it. Do you want to be caught in here?"

He managed to put on his pants under the blanket and then went off in search of his shirt. He found it poking out from under the bed, wondered idly how it had gotten there, and then shrugged it on. She turned on the lamp, running a hand through her hair.

"Andrea will know exactly what happened."

He raised his brows. "You think?"

She grinned and then suddenly her arms were around his neck and her mouth was on his. He stopped trying to get his belt buckled and kissed her back with a desperation that surprised him. All too soon she pulled back, her eyes searching his. "So..."

"So?"

"I need to know what that was. Last night I mean."

"Probably the best sex either one of us has ever had," he deadpanned, though he knew what she was asking and he knew that this was important. He also knew they needed to talk about it but there was a part of him that was worried. Last night was one thing but the prospect of being in an actual relationship could very well be a lot harder on both of them than either could have suspected.

"Probably, huh?" she asked in mock outrage.

He sighed and dropped his hands from her hips. "As great as it was, we might have jumped the gun last night."

She nodded. "Do you think we made a mistake?"

He shook his head quickly. "No, I don't. But if somethin' happens and we mess this up, it ain't just me and you that's gonna have to deal with it."

This sobered her. She knew that the risks here were high. It wasn't only about the two of them. He felt like a lot depended on this and really, it did. Somehow he had grown to love the kid and if him and Carol weren't careful then the girl could get seriously hurt and she had had enough hurt in her life. He wouldn't be the cause of more it. She kissed his cheek and stepped away from him.

"Do you think we should slow down?"

He shook his head. "You think we could?"

"I don't want to. Everything has happened fast but... I don't know. To me it all feels right."

He nodded. "What do we tell her?"

Carol laughed. "I don't know. She's really too young to know what's happening. We don't have to tell her anything at all. The way we get along, she's used to us just being us. So, I say we keep being us. It's just now, if you don't feel like going home at night, you can always just stay with me."

"I guess I better go," he said reluctantly.

She nodded and they headed down the hall. "You can come right back."

"I need a damn shower," he muttered as he dropped his boots on the floor by the door and shoved his feet into them.

"Things did get a little dirty during round three. I should probably take one myself."

He looked up sharply, his ears already on fire. "Quit it," he mumbled.

She bit her lip to hide a smile. "When will you be back?"

He shrugged. "I'll call you in a few days. Gotta check my schedule."

"So I'll see you after you get yourself washed up?" she grinned.

He kissed her quickly. "Yep.

He kissed her quickly and then he was out the door. He didn't wait for her to say anything else that was bound to embarrass the fuck out of him. Not that he minded a whole lot. He was feeling good about how things ended up. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that everything was going to be easy from here on out. As a matter of fact, the odds were stacked against them a bit. He had never actually been in a real relationship in his life and the one serious relationship that she had been in had ended in disaster, scarring her inside and out. Add a kid into the mix plus the fact that they hadn't known each other for much more than a month and things looked downright bleak.

But things didn't _feel_ bleak. Not a damn bit. Maybe it was because right now everything was so new and no one ever went into something like this thinking they wouldn't work out. If that was the case then no one would bother, but he wasn't worried. Maybe he was being naive but he felt good. He felt damn good.

~H~

Carol tried to fight it but the smile was stuck on her face. Every time she tried to force it away, it simply came right back, along with the memories of the night before. She showered in a hurry, caught site of herself in the mirror and paused. There were bruises on her hips in the shape of fingertips and teeth marks on her shoulder. Her eyes were overly bright and there was a flush to her face that had nothing at all to do with the hot shower she had just taken.

Just as she stepped out of the bathroom the front door opened up and Sophia ran in, already in the process of telling Carol all about the night she had had.

"... and then we watched a real scary movie and I wasn't even afraid."

Carol raised a brow at Andrea and the woman grinned.

"It was Goosebumps," Andrea said, her tone one of someone who was offended that Carol would think that she'd let Sophia watch an actual horror movie.

"I had fun and I could have stayed longer but I wanted to come home to see if everything was okay here. Where's Daryl?" Sophia was talking a mile a minute but she grew quiet as her eyes scanned the room.

"He'll be here soon," Carol said, watching the girl carefully.

"Sophia, why don't you go put your stuff away so I can talk to your mom for a second," Andrea said, giving Sophia a little push towards the hallway.

Sophia took off like a shot and Carol suspected that Andrea had loaded the girl up with sugar before bringing her home. It was something she was known to do.

"How was it?" Andrea asked, grinning from ear to ear with a knowing look on her face.

Carol scoffed. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she threw over her shoulder as she led her friend to the kitchen. She was in serious need of some caffeine.

"You know I already know so stop with the niceties and give me the dirt. I saw him so I have an idea in my head about how he would be in bed but I want to know specifics." She sat down. "I'm not going anywhere."

Carol shook her head but there was nothing she could do about the grin. "It was nice."

Andrea barked out a laugh. "I've been with men like him. It was either mind blowing or it was a total flop. There is no in between with them. Which was it?"

Carol eyed her friend. "Maybe I don't want to cheapen the experience by gossiping about it with you!"

"Oh my God it was one of those!" Andrea beamed. "I should have guessed."

"One of what?" Carol demanded, hands on her hips.

"You didn't just have sex, did you? It was one of those emotional soul moving things a person reads about in bad novels." Andrea kept on grinning.

"You're impossible. And maybe, just a little, it was like that. But that wasn't all it was."

"He ravished you, didn't he?" Andrea asked, accepting the cup of coffee with a sigh.

Carol sat down heavily in the chair across from her. "The first time was sweet, the second time I kind of took the wheel but the third? Yeah, I got ravished." She couldn't help it. She had never been able to sit around and brag about her sexual exploits because she had never had any. She was the one forced to hear about Andrea's escapades so this was a change that she took by the reigns, even if she felt bad for spilling about their night together.

Andrea stared at her, her eyes wide. "You're lying," she deadpanned.

Carol shrugged. "I'm really not."

"Oh my God."

"That's what I said. A lot actually." This was horrible but it was so much fun to be on the other end of this conversation.

Andrea laughed, her eyes dancing. "So, what now?"

Carol sighed, the smile dying on her lips and the first stirring of anxiety hitting her stomach. "Now we see where it goes," she said, keeping her eyes trained on the mug clasped between her hands.

"It's gonna work out," Andrea said, all humor gone from her voice.

Carol felt the corner of her mouth turn up because she did take some solace in her friends words. "It does feel that way, but if it doesn't, Sophia-"

"It's going to work. I saw it as soon as he walked in yesterday and I see it now. You aren't the same woman you were before you met him and I've seen it since the very first time you mentioned the man. He obviously adores you both and I've never seen Sophia so happy. All she wanted to talk about was Daryl. You can't let doubts start setting in or you'll sabotage what could very well be the best thing that could ever happen to you and Sophia. Other than me, of course," she added lightly.

Carol knew that Andrea was right. She couldn't be happy if she was too afraid of losing it all. She hadn't pursued him, chased him down and cornered him or pressured him into having a relationship with Sophia. He had came on his own and he had shown how much he cared about both of them by actions, not just words or promises. He didn't talk about things, he simply did them. That meant something to her. Anyone could say that they cared but he proved it and never asked for anything in return. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right. You love the man."

"She loves what man?" Sophia asked as she slid into the room on her sock clad feet.

Carol shot Andrea a glare. "No one, honey."

"Is she talking about Daryl?" Sophia asked, grinning.

"You know how Aunt Andrea is. She's always stirring up trouble. She was kidding."

"Well, I love him and I'm pretty sure he loves us too," Sophia said as she rummaged through the fridge. Carol and Andrea shared a look but Sophia didn't notice. "He's better than Carl's dad and I don't care if he isn't my dad because he's my friend. Dads, they have to love their kids because those are the rules but when someone loves you just because they want to, that's even better. Told Carl that and he got mad but I don't care. He said that his mom told him that it wasn't right for Daryl to be around me so much since he ain't your husband but she's stupid. I think she's just jealous because Carl says his mom and dad are always fighting and you and Daryl don't ever fight, even when he puts mud all over you for fun." She slammed the fridge. "You know what, Carl sucks, mom, and his mom sucks too and I don't think me and him are gonna be friends anymore." She was scowling by the time she was finished.

Carol was gaping at the girl but looked over when she heard a snort of laughter and caught Andrea covering her mouth. She looked back at Sophia. "Don't say that people suck and you know we don't call people stupid. That's not very nice." She had absolutely nothing else to say. Sure, there was plenty that she probably should have said but she didn't even know where to start.

Sophia eyed the back door and then met her mother's surprised stare. "Do you?" she asked.

Carol raised a brow at the girl. "Do I what?"

"Do you love him? I know that's who you were talking about."

Carol sighed. "You want to go out back?"

"Sophia grinned. "You didn't say you _didn't_ love him."

Carol shook her head and stood up with her coffee. "Get your butt outside before I ground you to your room for having too much sass for your own good."

Sophia laughed and tore off out the back door. Carol watched her bound down the steps and then looked over at Andrea, who's grin was as wide as her daughter's had been. "I'm blaming you for this."

Andrea sipped her coffee and propped her feet up on the chair next to her. "Do whatever you need to do to make yourself feel better. Thank you for the vague details of your _loooove_ making." She grinned.

"I don't even know why I'm still friends with you. You still act like we're still on Junior High."

Andrea chuckled. "You need me. And you're welcome for taking Sophia and giving you a chance to... discuss your relationship with neighbor guy."

"Thank you," Carol quipped, fighting a grin.

She shrugged. "You really did need it."

This time Carol didn't argue.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hope you had a great weekend! Mine sucked. My laptop decided that it would be way more awesome if it just never turned back on again. Fun stuff, but I have all the chapters for this story in my Doc Manager here on fanfiction so that is a huge plus. At least I can get on my teenage brother's filthy jacked up laptop to update in the mornings. lol Anyway, thanks a ton for reading! =)**

 **Chapter Thirteen**

He wasn't about to go back over until Carol's nosy friend left so he took his coffee to the back porch and spotted Sophia right away. She was inching towards the fence that separated their yards but when she saw him her eyes lit up and she took off running.

He'd had the best fucking night of his life with her mom the night before and he was damn glad they'd had time to themselves but he would be a complete liar if he tried to tell himself that he hadn't missed the kid.

"You miss me?" she asked once she made it to the fence.

"Yep," he answered, reaching over to haul her over to his side. Before he could sit her down she hugged him hard. "Guess you missed me back, huh?" he asked once he sat her back on her feet. He looked up and saw Carol standing in her doorway. She waved and ducked back inside.

"I did. I had fun but it would have been better if you and my mom had been there. Did you and my mom get bored without me?" she asked, looking around the yard curiously.

He realized then that neither one of them had ever been over here. Now that just seemed a little weird. He wouldn't have wanted them to see the mess that it had been before Merle had gotten locked up but now he was actually pretty damn proud of the place. "We got along okay I guess," he said gruffly.

"You got a whole lot of dirt out here," she noted, looking around.

"That's what happens when you bust up sidewalks. I'm gonna plant some grass."

"My mom must hate dirt. Every time I get too dirty she makes me take a bath."

He scoffed at that. "Gettin' dirty is fun."

Sophia nodded wisely. "I tried to tell her that but you know how it is."

He laughed at that. "Yeah, I think I do." Something occurred to him then and he grinned despite himself and motioned for her to follow him. He led her to the shed at the side of the house, ducking inside. He hadn't been in here since building the garage years ago but he remembered something that Sophia would likely get a kick out of.

"It's spooky in here."

He looked down and saw her staring around, her eyes wide. The door had shut behind them and the only light was from the small gap where the door hadn't latched. "You scared of the dark?"

She nodded.

He reached for the pull chain that would turn on the bare bulb and instantly she looked relieved. "Ain't nothin' in the dark to be scared of," he said as he started moving boxes to one corner of the room.

"Well, I think people say that cause they ain't sure what's in the dark because they can't see. I'd rather just have a light on."

He chuckled, never getting tired of Sophia logic. She was sharp, that was for sure. "I ain't never really thought of it like that."

"Grown ups think different I guess," she said, watching as he dug around the back of the shed.

When he spotted what he was after he grinned. He hadn't even thought of this stuff in years but the sight of them now had him feeling nostalgic. He grabbed what he needed and hauled the treasures out into the sun, plopping them down in the dirt that he hadn't bothered to throw grass seed on yet.

"Whoa!" Sophia's eyes were huge and he was damn glad to see that this old crap was going to see some use. "This is amazing," she muttered to herself.

Actually they weren't that amazing. Just a couple of oversized metal Tonka trucks that had seen better days even before his grandad had picked them up second hand when Daryl had been about five years old. But he'd gotten a lot of use out of them out here when he had been a kid, digging in the dirt, building roads. He left her out there and went back into the shed, finding more old junk that his grandpa had never thrown out. He found a box full of hot wheel cars and even the ancient bulldozer that went with the dump trucks. When he unloaded his spoils in the dirt Sophia looked like what he expected she would look on Christmas morning.

"You said you didn't have kids!" She cried, running her hand over one of the bigger trucks.

"I don't," he laughed. "These were mine. Should have thrown them all out a long time ago but I forgot they were out there."

"And now I can use them?" she asked, looking up.

He shrugged. "You can have'em. Ain't like I'm gonna be out here playing in the dirt."

"I'll get dirty."

He laughed and dropped onto his knees next to her. "That's what you're suppose to do. Here," he grabbed the biggest truck and rolled it towards her. "What you have to do is take this bulldozer, you load up the bucket like this," he used the handles to scoop up the loose dirt and then twisted it around to dump it into the back of the dump truck. "That's all there is to it. You just keep movin' it along until you got yourself a decent ditch. Got it?"

She grinned, her head bobbing. "I get it."

"And when you find worms," he sat a can down and tossed a few handfuls of dirt inside. "You toss'em in there and that's free fishing bait for he next time we go. You think you handle that much work?"

"I can handle it," she said, already filling up the back of the dump truck.

He stood up, dusting off the seat of his pants as she went to work feeling oddly accomplished. For whatever reason the old junk toys made the kid happy and it was kind of hard not be happy himself if she was. He tried to tell himself to stop being such a goddamn bleeding heart but there wasn't shit to be done about it. He was in trouble and he knew it but couldn't bring himself to give a damn.

"You must have had all sorts of fun when you were little," she said, tossing a wriggling worm into the can.

He felt the smile freeze on his face and his stomach gave a lurch. She looked up at his silence, a frown forming between her eyes when she got a look at whatever expression was on his face. He cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah. When I was here, I had fun." And it wasn't a lie. His childhood had always been less than ideal but when he was able to come here and visit the old man, he had always had fun. He had been able to just be a boy.

She nodded and then went back to work. He watched her for a few minutes, almost lost in thought, thoughts that he didn't really want to think about but then he looked up and realized that Carol was standing there, her arms crossed over the top of the fence, grinning at him. He glanced down at the girl once more but she was busy, not realizing that they weren't alone anymore.

"You really know how to keep her entertained. Where on earth did you get that stuff?" she asked, nodding towards her daughter sitting in the dirt.

He shrugged. "Dug it outta the shed. I forgot it was even in there."

She laughed softly. "I didn't realize that she'd be so interested in boy toys."

He scoffed. "Trucks ain't just boy toys. Sure beats the hell out of boring old baby dolls and shit."

"I assure you that she isn't a huge fan of baby dolls either. She's never really been interested in them.

He glanced over his shoulder but Sophia was still turned away from them. "Your friend take off?" he asked.

Carol shook her head. "She wants to go out for lunch. I just came out here to get Sophia but it looks like I'll have to toss her in the tub before we go."

"Then let her stay," he suggested without thinking.

Carol raised her brows at that.

He snorted. "By now I'm sure you know I ain't a serial killer and I ain't ever been convicted of kidnapping."

She frowned. "I didn't think anything like that," she mumbled defensively.

He grinned. "Yeah you did."

She narrowed her eyes at him but finally blew out a breath. "Well, maybe it briefly crossed my mind but it was dismissed, I swear."

"If it hadn't then I'd have to tell you that you need to brush up on your mama skills."

She rolled her eyes at him then. "I've never left her with anyone before. Other than Andrea I mean. Even Ed back when we were married. Actually, other than work, I've never really gone anywhere without her."

He nodded. "Well, take her with you and I'll see you all later or somethin'."

Her eyes stayed trained on Sophia, a frown on her face. "It really should bother me to leave her with you. No offense."

"None taken."

"But it doesn't bother me. I mean, I'm not afraid to leave her here." She sounded thoughtful.

"It ain't a big deal. Take her or don't. I ain't gonna get pissed off if you don't wanna leave her. I wouldn't leave her with anybody either." He shouldn't have even suggested it to her but he hadn't really thought about it before he had opened his mouth. That happened a lot around these two.

She looked up, meeting his eyes and then nodded, almost to herself before her attention went back to the girl. "Sophia!"

The girl looked startled, jumped up and guiltily started wiping her dirty hands on her jeans. Carol laughed quietly.

"You aren't in trouble. We're going to lunch with Andrea, though, so you better get over here so we can get you cleaned up."

Daryl didn't fault her for not wanting Sophia to stay with him but it still stung a little that she didn't trust him and a small voice in the back of his head told him that there was a big chance that she never would. Without trust there very well couldn't be much of anything else but he kept all of this to himself. He would never fault her for putting her daughter's safety above everything else. It was who she was and it was one of the reasons he was crazy about her. He'd never seen anyone love anyone else as much as she did the girl.

"Do I have to? You two are never very much fun and Andrea likes places that serve gross food," Sophia complained as she kicked at a clump of dirt.

"No, you don't have to, but I'm going. You can go with me or you can stay with him. Your choice," she said, not a trace of nervousness or apprehension in her voice.

Sophia stared at her like she was waiting for the punch line of a very tasteless joke. Daryl was staring at her too, surprised but grateful she was letting him know that there really was some trust there. More than some. Sophia meant everything to her. "Are you just messing around?" Sophia asked, sounding like she didn't believe her mom at all.

Carol shook her head. "If you want to stay and get all wormy and disgusting, then I'll just go to lunch on my own with Andrea. If you want to come with us then you better get back over this fence and get cleaned up."

"I'll stay! I'm building a road, mom, and you can't just leave a job that you just started!" Sophia was, once again, about to bounce out of her shoes.

"Okay then, I'll call and check up on you in a little bit and Daryl has my number if you need me, okay?"

Sophia nodded and took off back to her work.

Carol blew out a breath and finally looked up at him. "Are you sure you two will be alright?" she asked nervously.

He laughed. "You're goin' to lunch. You ain't leaving the country on a month long business meeting. Jesus."

She nodded, glanced back at Sophia. "I've never left her like this."

He groaned. "If you need me to I'll run in and grab you a tissue."

She scowled at him, giving him a push from her side of the fence. "You keep an eye on her."

"Yes ma'am."

"And don't give her any soda."

"I won't," he said solemnly.

"And if she cries or anything just call me and I'll be here."

"Jesus, go away."

She smiled. "I'm nervous! This is a big deal."

He let his head drop back on his shoulders and he stared up at the sky for a few long moments.

"You're so dramatic," she grumbled but he felt her grip the front of his shirt and pull him closer to the fence.

He looked down at her then and gripped the metal of the fence to keep from touching her, because he really wanted to touch her at the moment. "She'll be alright."

"If I had any doubts at all about that then she'd be going with me. We shouldn't be gone more than an hour." She hadn't let go of his shirt yet and didn't look like she wanted to. He stayed still, hands on the fence, and waited to see what she wanted to do. Just because they had spent the night together didn't mean that they were actually a thing and it didn't mean that he had the right to kiss her just because she was standing right there.

Her hand gripped the back of his head, pulling him forwards and he grinned right before her lips were on his. The kiss wasn't like any they had shared so far. It was quick and sweet and left him seriously thinking about hauling her over the fence. She ended the kiss and backed away slightly, biting her lip. He wanted to tell her that he could have bitten it for her but he kept his mouth shut.

"I'll see you in a little while."

He nodded and backed up a step himself. A glance over his shoulder assured him that Sophia still wasn't paying them any attention. He was glad. Those weren't questions he wanted to answer and he knew she'd have plenty.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry about the delay! I'll have my own computer back Friday. Or I better, anyway. We're close to wrapping this one up! Fun stuff. Hope you all have a great day and thanks for reading! =)**

 **Chapter Fourteen**

Carol was enjoying lunch a lot more than she thought she would. Andrea kept giving her sideways glances but she just ignored them. Carol had a sixth sense about her daughter and after Ed she felt as though she was a lot better at judging a person's character. Daryl was a good man and Sophia adored him.

"It just feels strange not having her here," Andrea said, sipping her wine. Since Sophia wasn't with them Andrea decided to take advantage of the afternoon, choosing a much more fancy place than she ever would have otherwise.

"It does feel strange but she's probably having fun. Daryl is good with her."

Andrea smiled. "I can tell. It still feels weird, though. You know, this is the first time we've been out together without her since she was born."

Carol smiled and checked her phone. They had been gone for well over an hour and she figured that now would be a good time to call. Andrea had ordered dessert so they wouldn't be home for another half an hour or more. She had told him she wouldn't be gone long.

"Just call," Andrea said, eying the phone Carol had just checked.

Carol didn't have to be told twice. She had his number memorized and didn't even bother searching through her contacts for it.

"Can't believe you lasted a whole hour and half. I'm impressed," Daryl said in greeting.

She smiled, noticed Andrea watching her and stood up to go to the ladies room for more privacy. "Don't judge me," she quipped. "How is she?"

"She?" Daryl asked.

"Daryl," she groaned.

"She's probably okay. Took off after you did. Said somethin' about joinin' a gang and going on a bank robbing spree."

Carol grinned at the sound of Sophia's laughter in the back ground.

"She's fine," he said, his tone more serious now.

"Give me another thirty minutes and we'll be back."

"Okay. Can I get back to buildin' my swamp now or you got more questions?"

She scowled. "You're letting her play in mud?"

"Can't have a swamp without a little mud, Carol. I didn't make the rules."

She shook her head but couldn't keep from smiling at that. "Of course you didn't. I'll see you both in a bit."

"The front door'll be open when you get here," he said and then hung up.

She stared at her phone and shook her head before dropping it in her bag. When she sat down their desserts had arrived and Andrea was looking at her curiously.

"She okay?" she asked after a few silent moments.

Carol nodded. "She is building a swamp at the moment."

Andrea made a face. "That's gross."

Carol nodded. "Isn't it? I don't know what's gotten into that girl."

"I'm actually more curious about what's recently gotten into you."

Carol almost choked. "You're not getting anymore details than what you got this morning."

About an hour later they pulled up in front of Daryl's house and Carol got out in a hurry. She realized as she made her way up the walk that she had never been here before. He had never invited either of them to his house but he really didn't seem the type to do a lot inviting, really, so she had never taken it personal. She had always asked him over and he probably hadn't known how to ask. For all of his qualities, he was still learning social etiquette. And basic table manners.

He had told her that the door would be unlocked but she wasn't sure if she should just walk in. Then she remembered the night before and stepped inside. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting but it wasn't this. He was a single man that had lived with his brother until recently so she had expected a bit of a mess. That wasn't what she saw.

Directly in front of her was a set of stairs leading to the second floor landing. The living room wasn't huge but bigger than her own. There was an old brick fireplace flanked by two windows and further into the room a set of french doors led into another room that she couldn't get a good look at from her vantage point. An archway directly to her right led her into a dining room with an ancient, but well kept, dining table. She ran her fingers over the worn wood as she headed through the room and into a kitchen that had her envious. It was much larger than hers.

She was starting to wonder if she was ever going to find the back yard when she finally found herself on the covered back porch. There wasn't anything fancy about the house or it's contents but it all seemed to scream Daryl. She spotted movement out of the corner of her eye and had to cover her mouth to keep from busting out laughing.

Daryl and Sophia were standing there, both of them smeared with mud and dirt from head to foot. It seemed to be matted in Sophia's hair and it covered Daryl's arms. Their clothes were a complete mess. It looked as though the swamp making had turned into an all out mud war. She watched, grinning at the site as Daryl turned on the hose and held it over Sophia's head, his hands trying to work the mud out of her hair. Sophia stood still, eyes squeezed shut as the water and mud poured over her head. He tried to work the clumps out of her hair and for the most part was doing a decent job of it but the girl was a complete mess. But she was smiling, despite the primitive shower she was getting.

She stayed where she was, watching them as he got the worst of the mess off of the girl and then he handed over the hose, bent at the waist and Sophia aimed the spray right at him.

Carol laughed at the spectacle, unable to dredge up even the slightest annoyance at the mess they had made of themselves. Finally he raised up, shaking his head like a dog and causing the girl to run away, laughing so hard she doubled over when she stopped. Daryl blew water out of his mouth and dropped the hose.

She finally pushed through the screen door and went down the steps and they both looked up as she approached. They shared a guilty look before they both glanced back up at her. They looked like they were bracing themselves for a lecture but all she offered was a shake of her head and a wry smile.

"She started it," he said defensively, pointing at a dripping Sophia.

Sophia's mouth dropped open. "I did not! He picked up a handful and plopped it right on top of my head!"

"And then what did you do?" Carol asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sophia looked sheepish then. "Well... I might've smooshed some right in his face. But he was askin' for it!"

Daryl couldn't contain it any longer. He grinned up at her from under his lashes and she was completely disarmed.

"Well, you certainly have the right to retaliate," she said to the girl. "Now we need to get you cleaned up, and not under the hose either."

"We were gonna go fishin' but we can't go now," Sophia said, sounding crestfallen.

"And why can't we?" she asked, more than willing to have a repeat of the great day they'd all had.

Daryl pointed then and Carol shielded her eyes. In the distance the clouds were growing more dense and were turning an angry purple gray. "Weatherman said that in a few hours we're gonna get hit with a hell of a storm. Came outta nowhere; usually the worst ones do."

Carol's pulse quickened then and Daryl gave her a knowing look. Sophia would have told him that storms made them both nervous. It was more than that though. Sophia always had a hard time during storms. She wasn't sure the reason and it was never actually while she was awake but they gave her bad dreams.

"Might lose power tonight because of the winds. I was thinkin'," Daryl hedge, clearly not sure if he should say anything but needing to all the same. "I got a basement and you all don't. If you want the two of you can pack a bag or... If not then that's okay too. I'll leave my door unlocked and if it gets real bad then-"

"I'd really appreciate that," she said with a small smile. The prospect of dealing with bad weather with someone else wasn't half as scary. As a matter of fact she felt a weight lift from her shoulders at the knowledge that, no matter how new and uncertain all this was, for the time being at least, she wasn't alone anymore.

She had never realized just how lonely she had actually been. She had Sophia and the girl filled her heart to bursting, but there were times Carol realized, that things would have been so much easier with someone else around. Like when the weather turned nasty and she was responsible for keeping her and Sophia safe, staying up all night while the girl slept fitfully, with nothing but her thoughts and fears to keep her company. Or when Sophia was sick and she was alone with her fear and her worry. She had been alone, even with Ed around.

"Hey," he said, his voice uncharacteristically soft and she looked up, realizing that his visage was blurred and for some Godawful reason her eyes had teared up. "What the hell did I say?" he asked, sounding almost frantic now.

She waved him away and shook her head, running her fingers under her eyes. She tried to offer him a genuine smile. "It's ridiculous, really."

"You don't have to stay. I just thought-"

"I want to," she said hurriedly, not wanting him to think that he'd done anything wrong. "It's just a little overwhelming. I never exactly realized how alone I've always been in situations like this and now I feel... I don't know. I feel like I don't have to worry about anything. You'll handle it."

His brows shot up at that and he almost looked on the verge of panic. "And that's a good thing, right?"

She laughed, a genuine laugh and it made her feel good, lighter. He really was new to all of this and the poor man had chosen a hell of a woman. She was going to pieces over a storm. "You're amazing."

He scoffed, scowling at her now. "Hush that shit up. You should probably go on home and do what you need to do. I can drag out some lanterns and some cards or somethin'. If you got candles then bring them with you cause I don't think I got any anywhere."

She nodded and then looked down, realizing that Sophia was watching them with an odd look on her face. "Is that okay with you?" she asked the girl, pushing her wet hair off her forehead.

Sophia nodded, looked towards the clouds and then looked back up. "You two are different."

"Different?" Carol's brows went up. Sophia was four so there was no way she could tell that the two of them had made a huge decision.

"Different," Sophia nodded. "I know that I'm not suppose to say anything like I did before but it almost seems like you like each other more today."

Carol risked a look at Daryl and saw that his face was red. She smiled. "You're nosy."

Sophia smiled at that. "I know. Lets go pack!" She took off towards the back door.

"Sophia! You can't track mud all through the house! We'll leave through the gate!" But the girl was already through the door.

"I don't mind a dirty floor," he said from behind her.

She turned but he kept walking briskly, gripping her waist and almost causing her to fall backwards as she tried to match his steps. She laughed and her arms wound around his neck. His eyes quickly scanned the porch and then he kissed her soundly, still forcing her to walk backwards.

"You're getting me soaked," she laughed.

"Can't have none of that with the kid here. Control yourself," he grinned and then his teeth nipped her throat.

She blushed, shaking her head. "You're in an extremely good mood." They stopped at the bottom of the steps.

"My first sleepover. I'm easily excited," he said, his face grave.

"Really? You've never had a sleepover?" She noted how his hands were now ghosting over her hips.

"Nope. Not once."

"I must be incredibly special or something."

He nodded. "Or somethin'."

She swatted at his chest and tried to struggle out of his grip but before he would let her go he kissed her again and she decided in that moment that she could definitely spend a lot more time getting familiar with that mouth. When he pulled away he looked up and then froze, dropping his hands to his sides. Carol looked over her shoulder and cursed herself silently.

Sophia was standing in the doorway, her eyes wide as she looked between the two of them. Other than her eyes her face was expressionless.

"Shit," Daryl whispered, worry clear in his tone.

Carol was about to say something, anything, but her daughter beat her to it. "Bout time!" And then she grinned before turning and running back through the house.

Carol looked up, meeting Daryl's eyes and then they both just shook their heads. "She's happy."

He looked up. "Yeah. Me too," he stepped around her and followed Sophia into the house but she was rooted to the spot, those softly spoken words resounding in her mind, causing her chest to grow tight with emotion. She sighed, cursing herself for being so emotional today and headed into the house.


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks for reading! =)**

 **Chapter Fifteen**

The wind howled and the rain beat against the side of the house so hard that it almost sounded like bullets hitting the siding. Daryl had weathered his share of storms before, and so that was what he decided to do to calm Carol and Sophia both down a bit, telling stories of storms worse than this one that hadn't killed him. Before he started talking Carol paced and Sophia huddled into the side of the couch, her eyes darting around the room and every time thunder rolled over them they both jumped like a couple of kittens. Carol told him that it was a lot worse once Sophia went to sleep but couldn't tell him why.

"Are you scared of anything?" Sophia asked once he'd finished telling them about a particularly freaky storm that sprung up out of nowhere when he'd been on a hunting trip. She scurried onto his lap, like if she was closer then she might not be as scared.

He shrugged. Sure he was scared of things. He was scared of a lot of things. He was scared of rejection and he was scared of not being good enough. He'd spent a lot of years scared he would end up like his old man. He was scared of losing the very few people that he cared about. But that wasn't what the girl was asking and so he only shrugged again. "Not really, but there ain't nothin' wrong with bein' afraid every now and then," he said, keeping his voice low.

She twisted in his lap so she could look at him. Carol had wondered into the kitchen to get Sophia something to drink. He could tell by the look on the girl's face that she had something on her mind and knowing her, it would probably be better for him if Carol didn't hear it.

"Spit it out, kid. What's on your mind?" he asked, pushing her hair back from her forehead.

"Will you stay?" she asked quietly.

He frowned. "Stay? It's my house so I suppose I plan on stayin'."

She shook her head and screwed her face up in thought. "I mean, will you not leave."

He still didn't understand what she was trying to get at. "Not leave?"

"Us?"

He swallowed hard. This was the very thing that caused his stomach to turn into knots. If this didn't work it was her that would suffer the most. He hadn't meant for things to happen so goddamn fast but that's how they happened and there hadn't been anything he could do about it. He leaned his head back against the cushions and held her gaze. "You mean, if your mom decides I'm an ass or somethin'?"

Sophia shrugged and looked down at her hands that were picking at his shirt.

He thought his words through carefully before he said anything. "Me and you are always gonna be me and you, alright? If me and your mom... decide not to be friends anymore, that don't mean nothin' for me and you. You can't go around always afraid somebody might leave. Especially me. I ain't goin' anywhere even if you wanted me to. Got it?" And he meant the words. The girl had wormed her way into his heart and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it, even if he'd wanted to, and at first he'd wanted to. He hadn't wanted the stress of giving a damn, but he did. It was almost impossible not to.

Sophia nodded and then rubbed her eyes with her small fists.

"You sleepy?" he asked.

She shook her head but when she looked at him her eyes were bleary. "Do I have to sleep by myself upstairs?"

He shook his head and stood up, hauling her up with him. "We're all camping out in here. These windows have shutters so no matter how hard the wind blows, ain't no chance of them busting on us. And if the power goes out, which is likely, then I already have the lanterns ready. We're good to go, kid."

He sat her down and grabbed the stack of blankets he'd brought from upstairs.

"This is kind of fun. You got a bigger house than we do and with you here it isn't so scary."

He snorted and started piling up the blankets for a makeshift bed for the girl. There was a recliner that he didn't mind sleeping in and Carol could take the couch. That way, if Sophia did wake up then she wouldn't have to worry about being alone in a strange place. The pallet was right next to the couch so she'd be close to her mom.

As soon as he tossed a pillow down for her thunder crashed above them and the lights flickered once before going out. He heard Sophia make a frightened sound and then her hand was gripping his. Without a seconds thought he picked her back up and inched his way towards the mantel where the lantern was. She clung to his shirt until he had the lantern lit and there was a soft glow filling the space.

"You alright?" he asked, a smile in his voice when he saw how big her eyes were.

"I'm a chicken. That was scary," she hissed.

He laughed at that and then sat her down, giving her a small shove towards the bed he'd made. "You're not a chicken till you're about twelve and you're still scared. Then I'll call you a chicken. Your mama will be right there on the couch and I'll be in this chair here and I'll keep this light burning low so you won't wake up in the dark. You good now?"

She crawled around on the thick stack of blankets and finally settled down, nodding. "I'm good now."

He shook his head and then looked up when Carol came back into the room. The look on her face told him that maybe she had heard a whole lot of the conversation he'd had with Sophia. He couldn't really figure out the look on her face. She stared at him for a few more seconds before finally walking towards him. When he glanced down Sophia was curled up on her side, eyes closed with the quilt pulled up to her chin. She had been a lot more tired than he'd thought.

"Are you really gonna sleep way over there?" she asked, keeping her voice barely above a whisper even though the girl, even if she was awake, wouldn't have been able to hear for the storm raging around them.

He eyed the couch. It was pretty deep, and two people could sleep there if they were close enough. He looked back up. "What about Sophia?"

Carol smiled at the sleeping form on the floor next to the couch. "She'll be thrilled, I promise."

He snorted, shaking his head but he was glad she'd offered cause he doubted he'd be able to get much sleep knowing she was just right across the room and he couldn't actually touch her. The thought had a scowl forming on his face. He wished she hadn't turned his brain into so much goddamn fluff. It got on his nerves.

He motioned towards the couch. "Get in then."

She raised a brow. "You're making me sleep on the inside?"

"You ain't squashin' me into the back of the couch."

"So you get to squash me into the back of the couch?" She raised a brow at that but she laid down anyway, squeezing in so he had more than enough room.

He didn't realize that trying to sleep with her on a couch just may create other problems. As soon as he was situated on his back she moved until her thigh was trapped between his and her arm was wrapped around his middle. Instantly his mind flashed a playback of the night before and he opened his eyes, staring up at the still ceiling fan, forcing himself to remember that there was a kid on the floor and he couldn't do anything that he desperately wanted to do at the moment.

"This is nice," she said, her head on his shoulder.

He was hyper aware of the feel of her breath hitting his throat. He nodded but didn't say anything.

"What you said to her, did you only say it so she wouldn't worry about us?" she asked after a while. If her lips hadn't been so close to his ear he wouldn't have heard her over the pounding rain.

He shook his head. If the two of them didn't work out he wanted to be able to at least see the kid. And it wasn't just because of how upset she would be either. It was because he felt like he somehow had a place in her life and he wouldn't want to give that place up. She had chosen him for whatever reason and to walk away from that wouldn't be easy. Not that it would be any easier to walk away from Carol, but Sophia had no choice in the matter and it wasn't fair that she would get pinned in the crosshairs if the relationship were to fail.

But he didn't believe that it would fail. He should have, just because things never exactly tended to work out in his favor for the most part, but that was how he felt anyway. He felt like this was it and the certainty was a very real thing. It was one of the reasons he simply wasn't very worried about it, because he didn't feel like it would fail at all.

"So, if you dumped me then I'd have to worry about you suing me for visitation rights?" There was a smile in her voice.

He grunted when she moved her thigh. "I ain't got no plans on dumpin' anybody but if somethin' were to happen then, yeah. I'd probably give it a go anyway."

She shook her head. "She's lucky."

His brows came together at that. "Lucky how?"

She raised up on her elbow, bracing her hand on his chest as she looked down at him. "Is that a serious question? She's lucky that the man that happened to be on the other side of the fence that day was you."

He snorted and rolled his eyes. "She didn't pick no gem. Just cause I'm nice to the kid don't mean anything. Hell, you've met her. Who the hell do you know wouldn't fall for the kid?"

Her expression sobered then and she shook her head, the smile on her lips turning sad. "Her father."

He tensed at that, felt his features freeze as his eyes narrowed. He didn't like to think about the man or what he had done to either of them. "Yeah, well, fuck him," he snapped. "He's damn lucky he's dead already."

Carol's brows went up then and she searched his eyes. For a moment he was afraid that she'd pull away, because she really didn't know that he had a flair for violence. Unlike Ed, however, the only thing that seemed to bring it out in Daryl was the thought of someone hurting someone he cared about. Before he could try to rectify the situation she leaned down, her lips soft against his. He would take the distraction gladly.

The kiss deepened, his hands roamed freely but he kept his wits about him, even though the feel of her skin under his fingertips was torture after slipping his hands up the back of her shirt. But it wasn't so bad. Lying on the couch making out with her was a lot better than lying in his bed upstairs, wide awake as he listened to the storm and wondering if her and Sophia were okay in the house next door.

When she finally broke the kiss he had almost worked his hand around the front without consciously realizing he'd been trying to. She smiled down at him and then pushed his hand away. "This is gonna work," she said firmly.

He gave her a stiff nod. "I know it."

She moved so she was no longer draped over him and settled into her spot, her head on his shoulder. He closed his eyes but knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. That was his last thought before her even breathing lulled him to sleep.

~H~

 _Thunder crashed so hard that it felt like Sophia's very bones were vibrating. She looked around the room, telling herself not to be afraid but it was very dark and she couldn't help it. She was scared. Scared until she heard the sound of her mother's voice, shushing her._

 _She realized then that she was crying so she tried to quieten her sobs. Another crash had her crying out again and then a door opened up, the silhouette of a man filled the door but the light behind him seemed very bright and she couldn't make out his face._

 _"I told you to shut her up!" he screamed into the room and then the sight of him was blocked by her mom. She was blocking Sophia's view but that was okay because that meant that his view was blocked also. Sophia heard heavy footsteps coming into the room and a loud angry voice but she could no longer make out the words. All she knew, knew in her heart, was that her mom was in danger and so was she._

 _Sophia looked up just as the man struck out and her mother hit the floor with a crash. Sophia screamed and then she saw large hands reaching for her. She tried to scramble away but there was no place to hide..._

She jerked awake but the dream was still gripping her and she thrashed, trying to escape the hands that were trying to grab hold of her. She whimpered pitifully but couldn't put anymore strength into her voice and she tried to get away from the danger she knew was looming.

"Hey, come on now, runt. Calm down. I got you, alright?"

The voice was whispered but carried enough to break through her terror. Her eyes flew open and she realized that she was sitting up and Daryl was there, kneeling next to her, holding on to one of her hands. She bit her lip and tried to tell herself that it was only a nightmare, that she had had the same one before and she was okay but the fear was still there, her heart still pounding as she saw those reaching hands in her mind.

"You're alright," he whispered.

She shook her head hard, tried to fight back a sob but it didn't work. Before it broke, however she threw herself at Daryl and hoped that he'd be able to make her feel safe again. His arm went around her and then she felt herself being lifted off the floor. She sniffled, not wanting to get snot on him because even though she was scared, that was really gross.

"You want me to wake your mom up?" he asked, still keeping quiet.

She remembered the last storm, the last nightmare, and remembered how her mom had cried after she refused to tell her what the dream was about. She didn't want to see her mom cry again and she knew that she would. She shook her head, drying her face on his shirt, her arms holding onto his neck as tight as she could.

Her eyes were still shut but she felt him moving, leaving the living room where her mom was still sleeping on the couch. When she cracked open one eye she realized he'd taken her to the kitchen and the light was on. She sniffled again, hiccuped loudly and then buried her face in the crook of his neck once she realized that no matter how much she wanted to stop crying, she couldn't just yet.

"You ain't usin' my shirt for a snot rag are you?" he asked, no longer whispering but keeping his voice quiet. He ran his hand up and down her back and it made her feel better.

She felt a small laugh bubble up and finally she raised her head. Swiping at her cheeks. He was watching her face and he looked worried but not mad and his arms were still around her and she finally felt like nothing could hurt her.

"You sure you don't want me to get your mom up?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Sometimes when it rains I have bad dreams. When I wake her up it makes her sad and I don't want to make her that way tonight. She ain't been that way in a while."

He sat her down on the counter and even though she didn't want to let go of him, she did, hoping he wouldn't go very far. She was safe if he was around and her mom was safe too. And her mom wouldn't have to know about the dream.

He leaned against the counter next to her and looked at the floor for a while before he asked her what she knew he was going to ask her. "What was that bad dream of yours about?"

"It's the same as the others. I'm in a room that's dark, maybe in bed but I'm not sure, and a man comes in and I'm scared. I never see what he looks like but he seems real big and I know in my dream that I'm suppose to be afraid. My mom is there but then he knocks her right down and he tries to grab me and usually that's when I wake up. Storms sometimes make the dream come because I think it's storming in the dream." She didn't want him to think she was being a chicken. He already knew she was afraid of the dark so she was worried that he wouldn't want someone that was such a scaredy-cat around.

He looked like maybe he was getting mad and she instantly worried that he was getting mad at her. After all, she had woken him up because of her stupid dream and he was probably real sleepy.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice cracking even though she had hoped it wouldn't.

He looked over sharply but then moved, picking her right back up off the counter and putting their faces close together. "You ain't got a damn thing to be sorry about, alright?"

She nodded and was about to wipe more tears off her face but he beat her to it.

"And you ain't got a damn thing to be scared of either. If anybody tried to hurt you I'd shoot'em right in the damn ass, you understand?"

For some reason the thought of Daryl shooting someone in the butt made her feel a lot better so she nodded.

He carried her back to the living room, bending low to snatch a blanket from the floor and plopped down in the big chair. She settled herself under his arm, afraid to ask him if she could sleep there for fear he'd tell her to get back on the floor. He reclined the chair and pushed it back and she felt her eyes start to droop.

"Maybe now that dream'll think that if it comes back I'll shoot it in the ass too," he mumbled around a yawn.

She felt herself smile but then she was once again feeling the tug of sleep pull her under, only this time, she knew she wouldn't have the dream again. Maybe she'd _never_ have it again. As long as Daryl was around, things just weren't as scary as they had been before.


	16. Chapter 16

**My Net has been out since Friday so I am posting this as fast as I can in case it goes out again. Super sorry if there's a ton of typos but I don't want to waste time to go over the chapter. Happy Thanksgiving to those of you that celebrate it and thanks for reading! One more chapter after this! =) I'll post as soon as I can!**

 **Chapter Sixteen**

Monday morning was busier than he expected it to be. He had spent the night at Carol's after repairing a section of the roof that had been damaged during the storm. There was also all the limbs in their yards that he'd had to tend to, but he hadn't minded.

Usually his Monday mornings were a little mundane. Most of the time he went to the shop early and went over things with Tara, checked the progress of the bikes his guys were working on and that was about it. But this morning, he felt like he was out of his league a little. Carol hadn't told him that it was anything special until last night when she'd casually brought up the fact that today was Sophia's preschool graduation and if he wanted he was invited to go too.

Like he was going to be able to tell the kid that he didn't want to go to something like that. As excited as she was he knew that, to her, it was a huge deal. So it was a huge deal to him too. He had no idea what was expected at an event like that but he'd be there, grease stains and all.

Things were different after the night they had stayed at his house during that storm. He had a better understanding of what the kid needed from him and that was something surprisingly simple. All he had to do was be there. She needed to know she was safe, not that Carol hadn't done a damn good job of that herself because she had, but maybe the girl needed more. In those dreams, apparently Carol hadn't been able to keep the monster away, and at the risk of sounding Freudian as fuck, maybe that was why the dream kept coming back. Because it wasn't a dream. It was a memory and sometimes a person's memories were a lot more terrifying than any nightmare they could have.

He hadn't wanted to tell Carol about what happened because he hadn't wanted her to feel bad or worry but it wasn't his place to keep something like that to himself. Besides, he'd had to explain why the two of them had been sleeping in the chair when Carol had woken up.

But this morning Sophia seemed to be as right as rain, going on and on about finally being able to put preschool behind her.

"You're coming, right? You said you would so you have to because you don't lie to people. You said you gotta give it to them straight and that's what you did, right?" Sophia asked as he was pouring his second cup of coffee.

He nodded around a gulp of the steaming liquid, willing it to wake him up a bit. He didn't know how the hell Carol could breeze around looking like she had gotten a full nights rest when he knew damn good and well that they hadn't managed to go to sleep until after three this morning. "I told you I'd be there."

"Are you gonna dress up?" she asked as she climbed up onto her chair.

"Nope."

She grinned and then looked down at the dress Carol had fought her into. "You're lucky. You shoulda told my mom to give me a break," she said, pulling at the neckline. "This is itching me to death."

He chuckled. "That dress is damn frilly, I gotta say."

Sophia shook her head. "I told her that but she said she bought it 'specially for today and I had to wear it or I'd be wasting money. She tried to make me wear panty hose," she made a disgusted face, "Can you believe that?"

Daryl schooled his features, looking properly appalled. "What was that woman thinkin'?"

Sophia shrugged. "Beats me, but I said I'd take'em right off in the girls room at school if she made me wear them. I'm good most of the time and I listen like I'm suppose to but sometimes you have just put down your foot, right?"

"Yeah, you do," he said around a yawn.

"Don't encourage her," Carol scolded, seeming to show up out of nowhere.

His eyes raked over her and he smirked at the silk scarf she had strategically tied around her neck. She caught him staring and pursed her lips.

"That was not funny, Daryl."

The smirk morphed into a grin. "You asked for it. Literally, you said-"

"Stop!" Her wide eyes glanced from him to Sophia and back again but the severe look was ruined by the blush on her face and the fact that she couldn't fight a grin of her own. "You're an awful person."

"He's the best person!" Sophia almost yelled, clearly outraged on his behalf.

Daryl laughed and hauled her out of the chair. "See, I'm the best person. You got outvoted. I think I'm great, Sophia thinks I'm great. That just leaves you, all alone, with your wrong opinion of me."

Sophia laughed at that as Carol glared at both of them in mock outrage. "Keep it up and I'll make _you_ wear those pantyhose to this graduation."

"I think I've got the legs for it anyway," he shot back, just for the girl's benefit. She howled with laughter and he sat her down, shoving her towards the doorway.

Carol just shook her head. "If I knew that you being around meant that I'd get ganged up on, I would have never brought you in and fed you," she muttered.

Without thinking twice about it his arm went around her, pulling her closer. "That's a lie. You got this weird fetish for sweaty men with antisocial tendencies . I was a shoe in for the spot."

She wrinkled her nose but then kissed him quickly before squirming away. Daryl glanced in the doorway, caught Sophia peeking in and then she grinned and ran off down the hall. He dropped his hands to his sides, reminding himself once again that he needed to remember that if the girl was up, then she was spying.

"You getting her a gift?" Carol asked as she loaded up the dishwasher.

He glanced over. "Gift?" Surely no one had mentioned that it was her birthday or anything. He would have remembered something like that.

Carol nodded. "Some parents bring flowers, small presents, stuff like that." She seemed to have caught herself and looked over sharply, worry etching her brow. "Not that you have to. I mean, I'm not saying you're her father and should or any-"

"I'll think of somethin'," he said quickly, unsure how he felt about that slip up from her. It wasn't a bad thing but sometimes he really did feel a little overwhelmed. Moments like this had him second guessing himself. Wondering if he could really do everything that he needed to do for them. _Be_ who he needed to be for them. And then he would remind himself that all he needed to do was keep being who he had always been. Then it all just seemed a little too good to be true because he had never thought himself particularly deserving of a whole lot of good.

But good had found him anyway.

"Anyway," she said, clearing her throat. "You being there is plenty for her so no pressure."

"What'd you get her?" he asked, wishing she didn't have to feel like she was about to scare him away.

She smiled then. "I got her flowers and ordered her a cake I have to pick up later."

"Flowers," he made a face.

Carol smiled. "Women love flowers."

"She ain't a woman, she's a kid. Flowers are boring. Cake is good though so I'll be here."

She laughed, straightening up and glanced over her shoulder to make sure the coast was clear before her arms wound around his neck. "You should get to the shop. Be there at eleven."

He looked up at the clock on the stove and cursed. He should have been at the shop ten minutes ago. "I'll be there," he said before his lips met hers.

"Looking forward to it," she grinned, finally letting him go.

~H~

Carol waved once Sophia spotted them as her name was called and she made her way across the gym. The girl was grinning, obviously proud and rightly so. Carol was proud herself.

"Everybody is starin' at me," Daryl grumbled.

She glanced over at him and rolled her eyes. "If you were really paying attention then you'd notice that everyone that is staring at you, are women, and I don't blame them. Do you even own a shirt with sleeves. you're distracting every mom in the school. And Sophia's principal, I might ad."

He blushed furiously and shot her a glare. "Shut up."

She grinned and her eyes went back to Sophia as she went to join the other kids. Daryl kept shifting next to her and she finally grabbed his hand. "Thank you for coming," she whispered, leaning her shoulder into his.

"Wouldn't have missed it," he grumbled, a scowl on his face.

She caught site of a small group of mom's that had their heads together and kept glancing back at Daryl. Carol wanted to laugh because she could have sworn she heard him growl and when she looked at him he was glaring at the group. They all turned back, their focus hopefully on their children now instead of the poor man next to her.

"She's done already, can't we just go?" he asked.

She smiled. "Daryl, you're fine. It'll be over before you know it."

Once all the parents were finally allowed to come down and congratulate the preschoolers Carol had to tighten her grip on his hand again. He glanced down at her, still frowning with a trapped look in his eye. "I didn't think it'd be so damn crowded," he hissed.

She kept walking, spotting Sophia next to her teacher. "Would it have mattered if you'd known it would be crowded?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"No," he grumbled. "But I'd have at least went home and changed first. I've had a busy mornin'."

"I thought your Mondays were lazy?" she asked waving at the girl.

"They were till you mentioned presents and then I had to scramble around to find somethin' suitable."

She looked over because the tone of his voice was a little off and sure enough his dour expression had changed to a smirk. "You didn't bring her a present," she noted.

His brows went up and he met her eyes. She did not like the look she found in them.

"Daryl?" she groaned.

He grunted when Sophia crashed into his knees and he was able to dodge Carol by picking the girl up.

"You made it," she grinned, turning so she could grin at Carol. "I knew he'd make it."

Carol grinned right back. "So did I. He isn't a liar." She handed over the small arrangement of flowers she'd picked up and, despite Daryl's prediction that flowers would be a boring gift, Sophia's eyes lit up.

"Thank you," she said, shoving them under Daryl's nose and forcing him to smell.

He sniffed and then made a face before she moved them. Carol took a moment to study the girl and simply enjoy the happiness that radiated from her for a moment. She had changed in the short time that Daryl had been in their lives. They both had.

"Let's get the hell away from this crowd," Daryl said, putting Sophia down and gripping her hand.

Sophia led them towards the exits, Daryl looking tense again until they were out in the sunshine. He visibly relaxed once he was able to breathe some fresh air.

"I got you somethin' too but it's in the truck," he said, that look, the one Carol didn't trust, back in his eyes.

"This is a great day," Sophia muttered as they headed towards the parking lot. She stopped when they were just a few cars away and her smile fell away, replaced by an almost mean look that Carol had never seen before.

Carol saw it then. There was a couple standing next to a squad car that was parked next to Daryl's truck. There was a dark haired boy that looked to be about Sophia's age and Carol could only guess that this was the infamous Carl.

"Sophia," the boy greeted in a tone that made it clear he wasn't the least bit happy to see her. The boy's eyes slid over to Daryl and regarded him with mild surprise. Carol saw that the woman was giving Daryl a different look entirely. It wasn't surprise but it was a clear look of distaste.

"Carl," Sophia nearly sneered, pressing against Daryl's legs.

Before anyone else could say anything at all the man, still in uniform, stepped forward, hand extended. Daryl shook it but it was clear that he wasn't any happier than Sophia. "I'm Rick and this is my wife Lori."

Carol offered him a smile as she shook his hand and nodded a greeting to Lori and introduced then all.

"So," Carl said, his eyes back on Sophia. "I'm about to go pick out my new bike. My _dad_ is gonna teach me how to ride it with no training wheels. Nice flowers," he added with a mean little grin.

Sophia pursed her lips and Daryl shot the boy a hateful look that surprised Carol.

"Guess I need to hurry up and give you what I got you before we leave," Daryl said, dropping Sophia's hand and then deftly leaping over the side of the truck.

Carol had a feeling that whatever he had done, it was big. If not then he wouldn't bother doing this in front of the family that was watching him curiously. He didn't want to be the center of attention but it looked as though he wanted them there.

He opened the tailgate and crawled down a lot more carefully. He came around the side and Carol heard Sophia make a strangled sound. Carol felt her mouth drop open as he handed the girl what looked like a Blue Heeler pup. He met Carol's eyes briefly.

"You got me... You... Is this serious?" Sophia asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she cradled the pup to her chest. It was licking her chin and wriggling but she was standing perfectly still, almost like she was in shock.

Carol didn't know what to say at all. Sophia had been asking for a dog for a while but she'd had to explain to the girl every time that she just didn't have time to take care of it properly. The house breaking itself took time and patience and though she had plenty of the latter, the time was the real issue. But there was no way she could tell her she couldn't keep it and she wished he had talked to her about it. In a lot of ways Daryl seemed as young as Sophia, impulsive. She loved that about him, but this was...

"I figure for a while he can stay with me. Get him trained up right before he moves in with you. But you can climb the fence any time you want to see him."

Carol felt relieved at that, finally blowing out a breath. She could handle that.

"I don't mind," Sophia said, her voice still awed.

"Mom! You said that I was too young for a puppy!" Carl barked, clearly outraged.

Lori knelt down and took her son by the shoulders, a strained smile on her face. "How about we go get that new bike, huh?" she soothed, pushing his hair back from his forehead.

"This isn't fair!" he wailed.

Daryl smirked, ruffling Sophia's hair. "We should probably go too. I bike sounds like a good idea. Then later on, we'll get to practice ridin' with no trainin' wheels."

"I think this is the best day of my whole entire life," Sophia said breathlessly as Carl wailed a little louder at the injustice of it all.

Carol stared at Daryl for a few long moments and he sighed. "I know I'm due for an ear full," he muttered as he opened her door.

She shook her head and climbed in, letting him get Sophia in her seat in the back with her new dog. When he sat down he faced her.

"Okay. Let me have it. I didn't have any business getting her a dog without talking it over with you first. I ain't got no business taking her out to get a bike without talking to you first. I don't got any place to make decisions like that, for her or for you and all I got to say for it is, that little kid is an asshole and I wanted to rub his little asshole nose in it. So, I'm sorry about the damn dog, I'm sorry about the bike I'm about to buy and I won't pull anymore shit like this again. I want her to be happy and I wasn't really thinking when I made the decision to get the pup. I was only thinking about giving her something that I thought would make her happy. Cause she deserves to be happy, even if I'm stuck cleaning up crap for the next few weeks. So even though I'm sorry, I don't regret it, cause it worked. She's happy so I'm happy. Now, go ahead and give me my ear full."

She stared at him, her eyes wide and her throat tight. She opened her mouth to say something but then closed it, biting on her bottom lip hard as emotions she couldn't even name swirled through her chest. Clearing her throat she finally spoke and the words seemed to silence everything in the truck, even the grunting puppy in her daughters arms.

"I love you."

He stared at her. She felt the blood rush to her face and she almost wanted to take the words back but she couldn't. She wouldn't. Because they were true. She could feel Sophia's eyes on her.

"Yeah?" he finally muttered, his ears turning red.

She nodded firmly but couldn't say anything else.

"Well, I love you too. But ain't you gonna bitch about the dog?"

She smiled. "When we get home I'll rant and rave for an hour if it'll make you feel better, but right now we have something more important to do. Let's go get our girl a bike."

He gave her a stiff nod, blew out a heavy breath, and started the truck. "If you insist." He didnt' look at her while he waited for the long line of cars to pull out.

~H~

In the back seat Sophia swiped at her cheeks. She wasn't sure why she was crying, and why she felt like keeping quiet was so important. Her heart was beating fast in her chest and she distracted herself with scratching the pup behind his ears.

Having a new bike was going to be great. And having a new puppy was going to be even greater. But that wasn't what made her so happy that she couldn't even keep from crying. The bike and the pup were good things, but there was something even better. Something she never thought she would be lucky enough to have but she felt like she just now got it.

For the first time she could remember, Sophia had a family. Not just a mom that loved her, but a real family. And that was the best feeling in the world.

She smiled at the dog, and then looked out the window, spotting Carl glaring at her angrily. Putting her small fist against the glass she glared right back and then lifted her middle finger. She'd seen Daryl do it to people that made him mad so she'd do it too. She held it up until Carl's mom looked over and then her mouth dropped open before she covered Carl's eyes with her hand. Carl's mom was weird.

"Sophia!"

She dropped her hand and looked up at her mom, who had turned in her seat to look back at her. Daryl looked back at her too and then at her mom.

"What?" Daryl asked.

"She just flipped off the whole Grimes family!"

Sophia realized that maybe she shouldn't do everything Daryl did but it was too late now.

Daryl tried but he finally gave up and laughed, causing her mom to give him _the look_. He must not have known how bad it was that he was getting the look. It spelled trouble and lots of it.

"Did you teach her to do that?" Carol asked.

He shook his head, looked back at Sophia, flashing her a grin. "Maybe you ought to save that for when it's just me and you, kid."

Sophia nodded and then watched as her mom slapped him on the arm. Yeah, she definitely should have warned him about the look.

Her mom looked back, pointing a finger at her, pursing her lips like she did when she was real mad but then it vanished and she covered a laugh behind her hand. This was confusing but Sophia wasn't going to ask questions. Instead she grinned at her mother, like she was in on the joke.

"What am I going to do with you two?" her mom asked, turning back towards the front, shaking her head.

Sophia let out a sigh of relief. That was close.


	17. Chapter 17

**I've been affectionately calling this story "my marshmallow" but I'd be a liar if I acted like I didn't love every minute of writing it. Huge thanks to all of you that read it and I'm glad that, for just a little while, some of you used it as your happy place. lol Now we're off to the next story. I'll post in a few days. I just have a few chapters left and it'll be finished up. It's only about ten chapters but there'll be another one after that. Again, thanks a million times over for reading! =)**

 **Chapter Seventeen**

 _One year later..._

Daryl listened to the silence of the empty house, his stomach in knots. He stared at the papers in his hand and still couldn't believe that he had done all of this. The last year had been a whirlwind and he had made hard decisions but he was sure that they were for the best for everyone. Sometimes things just didn't work out the way you expect them to. His life was sure as hell nothing like he had expected it to be.

He headed for the door but something in the corner caught his eye. The rest of the house Carol had shared with Sophia was completely bare and had been for a while now, but the item was small and must have gotten left behind. He bent down to retrieve it and then clenched his fist around it. It was one of the hot wheels he had given to Sophia last summer. That felt like an eternity ago.

He slipped the toy car into his pocket and then, for the last time, closed and locked the door behind him. He was nervous about this visit and he had no one to blame but himself. This year so much had changed and every time he had visited his brother, he had simply pretended like his life was as it had always been. Now there was a lot he had to come clean about and he wasn't certain how Merle was going to take things.

Well, there was no turning back now. It was crunch time. In three months Merle would be a free man and he deserved to know everything. Besides, once he was out there was really no way of hiding what he had been up to for the past year. So he drove to the prison, mentally preparing himself for whatever Merle was going to throw at him. At least there would be guards there. That was a small relief if nothing else. Hopefully he wouldn't try anything violent just yet. If he really wanted to beat the shit out of him he could just wait until he was a free man. The thought of Merle getting more time just because Daryl hadn't been able to bring himself to tell him the truth was grim. He wanted Merle out but he also wanted him to cooperate and no one ever knew if that was something Merle Dixon was going to do at any given moment.

It all depended on the man's mood.

Once he was inside he went through the now familiar process of getting searched but now it didn't bother him. The guards knew and liked him. They okayed the few items he needed to bring in with him, even though it was bending the rules a little.

"We'll bring him through in a few minutes."

Daryl nodded and pulled out the plastic chair, sitting down heavily. He was ready to get this over with as quickly and painlessly as possibly and he could only hope that Merle was in a cooperative mood. A half minute later he heard the buzz of the door being unlocked and then the guard led Merle into the room. He seemed bigger to Daryl for some reason, more intimidating and he never felt more like the little brother than he did at this moment.

When he spotted Daryl Merle grinned and waited for the guard to take the cuffs off of him. One would think that after seeing his brother like this so often that he would get used to it but it always gave Daryl a sick feeling in his stomach. The thought of being caged made him sick and he hoped that this time, under the circumstances, Merle would finally find it in himself to truly turn over a new lief and keep himself clean.

"You look like you're about to puke," he said to Daryl as he eased into the chair. The grin remained but there was a tightness in his eyes that let Daryl know that he was genuinely concerned. He was just being Merle and trying to hide it.

"You look like you could use a tan," Daryl said, holding his gaze.

Merle snorted and relaxed slightly. "Well, it's been near a month since I saw you last. How is everything on the outside?"

Daryl swallowed hard and looked away. This was it. This was the thing he had spent a whole year avoiding and now it was time to lay it all out there. No more hiding and no more avoiding questions. "Things are... different," he said, knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere if he had to actually talk his way through this conversation. Better to just let Merle know everything now. "There's a few things that I ain't been too honest about."

Merle frowned but Daryl didn't give him time to ask anymore questions. He slid a slip of paper across the table, nodding towards it when Merle made no move to take it. When he did he kept his eyes on Daryl for a few more seconds. Daryl studied his expression as his eyes started taking in the words. His brows pulled together and then his eyes widened.

"Is this for real?" He asked, not looking away as he reread the document.

Daryl nodded. He had rehearsed this conversation in his head and knew exactly where to steer it. Merle wasn't the best at showing it but he was big on blood. That was important to him and Daryl hadn't known how this was going to go over but he thought he could make it work if Merle didn't dig too deep. It wasn't exactly lying, or at least that's what Daryl told himself.

"You got a fuckin' kid?"

Daryl nodded, wanting to shift under his brother's gaze but refusing to give in to the temptation. "She's five."

"How the hell did that happen?" Merle asked, clearly in a mild state of shock, just like Daryl had hoped.

He shrugged lightly. "You know better than most that sometimes things just happen."

"When the hell did you find out about her?" Merle asked, his eyes raking over the paper again before sliding it back over to him.

"Bout a year ago."

"And you're just bringin' this up!"

Daryl nodded, waiting for Merle to absorb this. He'd asked the questions Daryl knew he would, and Daryl had answered them just right. As far as Merle knew, Sophia was his by blood and not just by adoption. It might not be right to leave the man in the dark but Daryl needed for Merle to accept the girl and this was the only way he knew to make that happen for sure. In Daryl's eyes, that's what she was. She was a part of him, even if not physically and no one could convince him otherwise.

"Goddamn, did her mama know?"

Daryl shrugged. "We didn't know each other back then." That wasn't a lie. He'd never met her back when Sophia had been conceived but what Merle would assume was Carol was a one night stand and Daryl had knocked her up.

"Jesus," Merle muttered, running a hand over his face. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't know how I guess. I didn't expect to wake up one day and realize that there was some kid out there that needed me."

"I'm a goddamn uncle," Merle said, looking up accusingly. "I guess this means you expect me to straighten my shit up for good, huh?"

Daryl felt his lips twitch.

"Do you get to see her? Does her mama want you to have some kinda relationship with her? Cause if she's tryin' to pull some shit we can get a lawyer. Kid needs to be able to know her old man. She's a Dixon, goddamn it."

Now that this part went the way Daryl needed it too he felt a little bit better about the rest. He slid another piece of paper across to his brother without saying a word.

Merle didn't hesitate this time. He snatched it up, read it so fast Daryl could barely follow Merle's eyes as they took in the words and then his jaw dropped and he slammed the paper down. "You're fuckin' married?"

Daryl nodded.

"You... what the fuck! Woman shows up with your kid you think you gotta marry her! That's not how it has to be, brother. Jesus!"

Daryl took the paper back from him and glanced down at the last thing he had to give Merle. The final nail in Daryl's coffin would be how Merle would see it but Daryl didn't mind. Merle could see it however he wanted. To Daryl it was nothing but the icing on the cake.

Merle huffed out a breath and shook his head as Daryl held out two photographs for him to take. "There's more? Little brother, I ain't too sure I can handle much more." He slowly took them and studied each one quickly while Daryl waited, hoping that this would continue to go good. Merle kept looking from one photo to the next and then finally handed them back without a word. "Fancy new sonograms, huh? Looks like your right there in the womb," he said, staring a hole through Daryl. "Yours?"

Daryl nodded.

"Yeah, I could already tell. A nephew, huh?"

Another nod.

"He looks like me," Merle noted and finally grinned.

"I thought the same damn thing but there's still time for him to get better lookin'," Daryl grumbled darkly.

"When's he suppose to break out?" Merle asked.

"Same day you're due to be released so if I ain't here to pick you up, meet me at the hospital, alright?"

"Sure you want me there?" Merle asked, sounding almost surprised.

Daryl scowled. "Course I want you there goddamn it, you're my brother."

"I'm a criminal."

Daryl shook his head. "You ain't gotta be. Which brings me to somethin' else I need to lay on you." He was really dreading this part.

Merle leaned back in his seat, looking almost angry. "You done laid enough on me, damn it. What the hell else is goin' on?"

"I need the house," Daryl said, fear finally creeping into his voice. It was one thing to reveal that he had a family that Merle knew nothing about but this was something else.

Merle's mouth dropped at that. "The house is all I got to my goddamn name," he hissed.

"I know. Trust me, I fuckin' know so I wanna try to make a deal with you, alright? Just hear me out."

Merle ran a hand over his freshly buzzed head and looked up at Daryl from under his brow, his eyes flashing. "Come on, you gotta leave me a bone to bite here goddamn it."

Daryl held up a hand. "I am. Look, I got a wife and two kids and I can't keep them in a two bedroom apartment at the back of a garage when you get out. It ain't right. Carol sold her own house cause it wasn't big enough either. I spent about nine months redoing the old man's house from top to bottom, inside and out. I know that I bought you out at the garage but I wanna bring you back in. We're partners, fifty fifty and you take the apartment. I'm telling you, I'm making a killing, Merle. I have plenty and I could go buy a house if I needed too but I want to raise them there. Taking them somewhere else just don't sit well with me. You'll have steady income and a place of your own."

"As long as I agree to your terms?" Merle asked.

Daryl cursed. "All I want is for you to stay clean. Least stay the hell off the shit that got you in here. It ain't just me anymore. You got a couple kids that's gonna be wantin' you around as much as I do. I want my goddamn brother back."

"That wife of yours ain't gonna want some half cocked criminal around them kids and we both know it."

Daryl glared. "Then why the hell did she ask me if she could come here today? She wants to meet you, dumbass! She knows you've been in trouble but she also knows you're my brother, and that nothin' is ever gonna change that and if I care about you then so does she. You don't know a damn thing about her. Nothin', and you won't sit here and tell me that she's the type of person that'd pass judgment on you when I know she wouldn't!"

Merle stared at him with wide eyes and Daryl realized that he'd raised his voice to the point that the guards around the room were staring at him in surprise. He settled back into the chair and huffed, running a hand over his face. Merle smiled. "Well, guess you told me."

"Shut up," Daryl muttered, sinking further into the chair. Merle had this way about him that made Daryl feel like a damn ten year old. "So, I need to know if you wanna do this. If not I need to start lookin' for a house to buy."

Merle sighed and waved him away. "Consider it a weddin' gift I suppose. You turned that shop into a money machine and I've been kickin' myself in the ass for years for letting you buy me out. Hell I can party way harder in that garage apartment anyway. Sound don't travel as far at the shop." He winked.

He was joking. At least Daryl hoped he was joking because this was a big deal. He wanted his brother to be a big part of his life, and Carol's life and the kids life. They were family.

"How is she in the sack?" Merle asked suddenly.

"Goddamn it, Merle!" Daryl growled, shaking his head.

"Least you coulda done was sneak me in a few nudes from before the second trimester. You've always been a selfish mother fucker, you know that?"

"You're a sick bastard," Daryl grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

~H~

Carol put away the last of the dishes and tried to tell herself that Daryl would handle his brother. She had no idea he had never told the other man anything. Nothing at all! She was six months pregnant with his son and he hadn't bothered to tell Merle. He had started the adoption process the very day they had married and now, for better or worse, he was the girl's father. But his brother didn't even know and to top it all off, he was planning on lying about it.

She went to the back door, peering out and despite her bad mood she found herself smiling. Sophia was outside with Scud, who didn't look like much of a puppy anymore. He was bounding around the girl who was holding a stick up high. She flung it and the dog darted off to catch it.

She sighed and was about to head outside when suddenly a pair of strong arms wound around her waist. Despite how angry she was at him, she couldn't resist leaning back, reveling in the familiar feel of him.

"You over it?" He asked, his chin resting on her shoulder.

She shook her head. "It isn't right."

He sighed heavily as his fingertips traced patterns on her belly. "I ain't takin' any chances. You don't know Merle."

"But once he met her it wouldn't matter. I refuse to believe that he's so bad that he'd hurt a little girl just because-"

"He wouldn't," he said, his patience wearing thin. "He'd go through the motions and I know it but every time he looked at her he'd remember that she was only a Dixon by name and _that_ ain't right. Sophia's mine. Period. If lyin' to him is the only way for him to feel the same way then I'll lie."

She closed her eyes and willed herself not to freak out again. This pregnancy had her moods swinging like a pendulum and she knew he was being as patient as he could but she was driving him insane and she knew it. But lying to his brother about Sophia's lineage still didn't seem right to her and she was sure that it wasn't just the pregnancy that made her feel that way. "You do understand why it's upsetting, right?"

He nodded. "And you understand that I have to do this for her and me both, right? If he treated her different I'd resent him until the day I died and I don't wanna feel that way. He's my brother but he has his faults and I won't have those faults affect her. Besides, I didn't even lie to him."

"You just manipulated the conversation," she said, smiling grimly.

"Yep. I never once looked him in the eye and told him that I was the one that got you pregnant with her. That's just what the conversation led him to believe. No harm no foul."

"Did you ask him about the house?" she asked, feeling anxious all over again.

"Yeah, and that went better than I thought it would. Everything is gonna be fine, just like I said."

She felt relieved but still guilty about the lie, and no matter how he justified it, it was still a lie. She was about to voice this when she felt his lips brush against her throat. Instantly she tilted her head, closed her eyes and let his mouth make her forget her guilt for a few minutes. She pushed back against him and he groaned, his hands slipping to her hips and stilling her.

Her eyes snapped open and her face flushed. "Sorry," she whispered.

He laughed, his forehead hitting her shoulder. "My fault." He gave her hips one final squeeze before stepping away from her. "I should know better than to get too close. Now days you just can't handle it." He grinned, the look in his eyes smug.

"Keep it up," she said, rolling her eyes. "You're right. It isn't my fault."

He shrugged. "I don't mind. I like the moods when you wanna use me and abuse me a lot better than the moods where you only want to abuse me."

She scoffed and tried to fight a smile. "I do not abuse you."

He raised a brow at that but couldn't reply because Sophia chose that moment to run in, Scud on her heels. Why the girl named the dog Scud was a mystery.

"Scud chewed up mom's shoes," she said, nearly climbing Daryl until he had her on his hip.

"Oh shit," he grumbled.

Carol sighed. "It wasn't so bad. It isn't like I can fit into them anymore."

"Mama's feet got fat," Sophia informed him helpfully.

Carol laughed and swatted at her. "Swollen. My feet are swollen!"

"So's your belly. I bet my brother is gonna be huge," she said as Daryl sat her down on the bar stool.

Carol scowled. "I hope not. How much did you weigh when you were born, Daryl?"

He glanced over his shoulder as he rummaged through the fridge. "I was a lot smaller than Merle. I think I weighed nine pounds five ounces. Somethin' like that."

Carol looked down at her belly and felt the blood drain from her face. "Jesus," she breathed.

~H~

Daryl and the dog made their rounds, making sure the house was locked up tight for the night. Carol and Sophia had both went to bed early so the silence in the house was complete other than the click of Scud's nails on the hardwood. As soon as they were upstairs the dog nosed the door open wider and padded into Sophia's room, where he had slept every night since they had moved in with him.

He could just make out Carol's form in the bed as he changed into a pair of sweats. He slid in next to her, rolling over and pulling her closer so her body was fit into the curve of his, his arm going around so his hand was pressed against her stomach. Sometimes it all seemed surreal. Like this life wasn't really his and one morning he would wake up and it would be only Merle and him once more. It was a horrible thought but not one that he could shake.

In a way it was a good thing. Every morning that he woke up to this, to them, was a morning truly appreciated, so even his nightly pessimism came with benefits. Sometimes it was overwhelming but that was to be expected. He had become someone very different from the man that had met them and he was grateful for it.

He felt the familiar feel of his son shifting under his palm and felt a tired smile tug at his lips. Sophia was going to make one hell of a big sister and he already knew that he had it in him to do what he needed to do to be the best dad that he could be, and there wasn't a woman in the world that could hold a candle to his. Soon he'd have his brother back. The sky was the limit.

For Daryl Dixon, this was life, and life was fucking great.


End file.
